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SENATE 


No. 3. 


REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS 



LATS IN 


IN RELATION TO THE 

BOSTON HARBOR. 


-+.- 

JANUARY, 1850. 



S&*'- 





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Jan. 1S5U.J 



SENATE—No. 3. 


o 


gTomwoHUitaltlj of jUasiGacijusctts. 


To the Legislature of Massachusetts :— 

The undersigned, Commissioners appoined by the Governor and 
Council, pursuant to a Resolve of the General Court of May 10, 
1S48, “to consider and report to the next Legislature what 
are the rights and duties of the Commonwealth in relation to 
the flats in the harbor of Boston ;—also, to consider whether 
the public good requires that any portion of said flats should 
be filled, and to what extent; and whether the maritime inter¬ 
ests do now, or probably may hereafter, require the excava¬ 
tion of any part of them to enlarge the harbor accommoda¬ 
tions ;—and also, if it shall be deemed expedient to fill any of 
said flats, to report the outlines of a plan for that purpose, 
and the terms upon which such filling up should be author¬ 
ized,”—now present the following 


REPORT: 


The commissioners originally appointed, pursuant to the 
above mentioned resolve, first met on the fourth day of Septem¬ 
ber, ISIS, to consider the course to be pursued by them in the 
discharge of the duties of their commission. They then agreed 
to meet again, in the Senate chamber, on the twenty-fifth day 
of the same month, to hear all parties and persons who might 
wish to be heard on the subjects referred to the commissioners, 
and that public notice of the time and place of their next meet¬ 
ing, signed by the chairman, should be published, as soon as 
practicable, in the Boston Daily Advertiser and the Boston Post, 
newspapers published in Boston. Such notice was accordingly 


given. 


The commissioners met again at the time and place appointed 
therefor, as above mentioned. At this meeting, and at eight 
subsequent public meetings, held, from time to time, until the 




4 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


twenty-first day of October, 1848, the riparian proprietors at 
South Boston, and the Boston Wharf Company appeared by 
their respective counsel; the Marine Society, and merchants 
and others in the city of Boston, were represented by committees 
appointed for that purpose; and several other persons, represent¬ 
ing various interests, appeared and presented their evidence, 
statements, and arguments in support of their respective views. 
After these public hearings were closed, the commissioners met 
from time to time, for consultation and advisement, but were 
unable fully to accomplish the objects of their appointment in 
season to present their final report within the time prescribed by 
the Resolve of the General Court. A vacancy in the board of com¬ 
missioners having afterwards occurred by the resignation of the 
Hon. Richard Fletcher, the proceedings of the commissioners 
were suspended until the vacancy was filled by the appointment 
of John M. Williams as his successor, on the third day of October 
last. 

The commissioners resumed their labors, and a meeting was 
held on the seventeenth day of October last. They have since had 
frequent meetings, and have devoted to the discharge of their 
duties all the time which could be spared from their other neces¬ 
sary avocations. They have sought and obtained valuable in¬ 
formation and suggestions from various sources : they have 
heard and considered the claims of the city of Roxbury, the 
Water Power Company, and others supposed to be interested in 
the flats in the Back Bay,—of persons who wish for legislative 
authority to fill the flats near the mouth of Mystic River,—of 
owners of wharves in Boston,—of shipmasters, merchants, en¬ 
gineers, and others,—and, after due deliberation, now proceed to 
submit to the Legislature, the result of their investigations as 
to the rights, duties, and interests of the Commonweath in rela¬ 
tion to the flats in question. 

The rights of the Commonwealth in relation to the flats in 
Boston harbor, are, 

1st. The right of eminent domain. This is an inherent right 
of sovereignty. It extends over all the property in the Com¬ 
monwealth, and authorizes the government to take any private, 
as well as public property for public use, as the public exigency 
may require. This right is recognized, though not in express 
terms granted, by the Constitution of the Commonwealth, (Part 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


5 


Ij Art. 10,) which declares that whenever the public exigency re¬ 
quires that the property of any individual should be appropria¬ 
ted to public uses, he shall receive a reasonable compensation 
therefor. 

The exercise of this power is confided to the sound discretion 
of the Legislature. By the Constitution, (Part II, Art. 4,) full 
power and authority are given and granted to the General Court, 
from time to time, to make, ordain and establish all manner of 
wholesome and reasonable orders, laws, statutes and ordinances, 
directions and instructions, so as the same be not repugnant or 
contrary to the Constitution, as they shall judge to be for the 
good and welfare of the Commonwealth. 

The implied limitation, in the Constitution, of the power to 
appropriate private property to public uses, to cases of public 
exigency, has been construed liberally in favor of the exercise 
of the power. Its exercise has not been limited to cases of abso¬ 
lute necessity, or extreme urgency, nor to cases of direct action 
by the Legislature. The power has been delegated in certain 
cases, and under certain restrictions, to other tribunals, to cor¬ 
porations, to individuals; and in cases in which the primary 
objects of those corporations and individuals was their own 
emolument, and not the public good. The Legislature has ac¬ 
cordingly delegated to county commissioners the power to take 
the property of individuals, without the consent of the owners, 
for public highways; to corporations, the power to take property 
without the consent of the owners, to make turnpike roads, rail¬ 
roads, canals and toll bridges; and to individual owners of mill 
sites’ the power and right, by erecting dams on their own land, 
to overflow the lands of other individuals, without their consent, 
to raise heads of water to drive their mills. These delegations 
and exercises of power have been sanctioned by repeated ju¬ 
dicial decisions. 

There can therefore be no doubt that the Commonwealth has 
the power and the right, by legislative enactments, to appiopri- 
ate any or all the flats in Boston harbor, whether owned by the 
Commonwealth, or by individuals, at such times, in such man¬ 
ner, and for such public uses, as, in the judgment of the Legis¬ 
lature, the public interest and welfare, or, in other words, the 
public exigency, may require; taking care only to provide a 
reasonable compensation for those individuals whose property 
may be so appropriated. 


6 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


2d. In a large part of the flats in Boston harbor, the Common¬ 
wealth has not only the right of eminent domain, but also the 
right of property and ownership. 

By the common law of England, which our ancestors brought 
with them, claiming it as their birthright, and which was in 
force there at the time of their emigration to, and settlement in 
Massachusetts, under the colonial charter of Charles I, the right 
of soil in the shores of the sea, and other navigable waters, 
where the tide ebbs and flows, is in the sovereign. The rule pf 
that law is, that this right of property to high water mark is in 
the king, as the representative and depositary of the nation's 
sovereignty, and for the use and benefit of all his subjects. 

When the American revolution took place, the people of this 
State became themselves sovereign, and succeeded to all the 
rights of the British government and nation, and of the colonial 
and provincial governments and people, including the right to 
all navigable waters, and the soil under them, excepting such 
parts only, as had been previously granted to others. 

A claim was made before the commissioners, and urged with 
great research, learning and ability, in behalf of the riparian own¬ 
ers, that their title and property in the soil extended, by the 
civil law, and by the original common law, not only over all the 
adjoining flats, but over all the soil to the centre of the channel, 
—usque ad Jilum aqua —subject only to the public easement of 
a right of way, navigation and fishery over it; that this rule 
was in force in England until the introduction and establish¬ 
ment of the feudal system ; that the supposed rule, that the king 
is the owner of the soil to high water mark, is founded on the 
legal fiction or assumption of the feudal law, that all the proper¬ 
ty in the kingdom was originally the king’s, and still remained 
in him, except so far as adverse claimants could prove their title 
by express grant, or by prescription, which is founded on the 
supposition of a grant. 

The commissioners have not deemed it necessary to ascertain 
what was the law of England on this subject prior to the Nor¬ 
man conquest, and the consequent introduction and establish¬ 
ment of the feudal system. Our ancestors, the original colonists 
of Massachusetts, brought with them, and claimed as their birth¬ 
right, the common law, as it existed at the time of their emigra¬ 
tion, without regard to the time and manner of its introduction 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


7 


and establishment. Lord Chief Justice Hale, in his treatise, u de 
jure marts ,” a work of the highest authority, written about the 
time of the first settlement of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, 
states, as an established rule of the common law, that to the 
king belongs, of common right, all the navigable waters of the 
kingdom, and the soil under them, extending to high water 
mark; and this principle has ever since been uniformly and dis¬ 
tinctly recognized and stated by all approved elementary writers, 
and by the highest judicial authority, in England, and in the 
United States, whenever they have had occasion to refer to this 
subject. The commissioners therefore consider the rule to be 
too firmly established, as the common law rule, to be now dis¬ 
turbed or controverted. 

But the question as to the extent of the title of the riparian 
owners, according to the rules of the common law, may not, in 
the present investigation, be important, because this question in 
Massachusetts appears to have been conclusively settled at a 
very early period of colonial history, by express legislation. By 
the ordinance of 1641, passed by the General Court under the 
authority of the colonial charter of Charles I, it is expressly de¬ 
clared, “ that in all creeks, coves, and other places, about and 
upon salt water, where the sea ebbs and flows, the proprietor of 
the land adjoining shall have propriety to the low water mark, 
where the sea doth not ebb above a hundred rods, and no more , 
wheresoever it ebbs further.” 

This ordinance has been generally understood, by judges and 
jurists, to extend, by its operation, the title of the riparian pro¬ 
prietors from high to low water mark, or one hundred rods be¬ 
low high water mark, as the case may be. But whether it 
operates as an extension or limitation of their title, is not mate¬ 
rial. In either case it establishes its extent. 

This ordinance continued in force until it was annulled in 1684, 
with the charter under the authority of which it was enacted. But 
in 1691. under the authority of the charter of William and Ma¬ 
ry, it was, with other laws of the colony in operation at the 
time of annulling the former charter, revived and continued in 
force, until further order of the General Court. No such fur¬ 
ther order was passed on the subject, and the ordinance, there¬ 
fore, was in full force and operation at the time of the adoption 
of the Constitution of the Commonwealth. By that instrument, 


8 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


(Part II, Ch. 6, Art. 6,) “ all laws which have heretofore been 
adopted, used and approved in the province, colony, or State of 
Massachusetts Bay, and usually practised on in the courts of 
law, shall remain and be in full force, until altered or repealed 
by the Legislature.” The ordinance in question has never been 
altered or repealed by the Legislature, and is consequently in 
full force at this time. It establishes a rule of construction of 
grants of land, “ in all creeks, coves, and other places, about and 
upon salt water, where the sea ebbs and flows.” It expressly 
establishes and defines the line to which the property of the ad¬ 
joining owners shall, and beyond which it shall not, extend. 
There seems, therefore, to be no room to doubt that, in Massa¬ 
chusetts, the dividing line on the flats, between the property of 
the Commonwealth and the riparian owners, is the line of the 
low water mark, or a hundred rods from high water mark, as 
the case may be. 

There is another view of this subject, which leads to the same 
conclusion, and which may be no less satisfactory. By the 
charter of James I, granted, in 1620, to the council established 
at Plymouth in the county of Devon ; the grant by this council 
in 1627 to Sir Henry Rosewell and others, and the colonial 
charter of Charles I, in 1628, a large tract of land therein des¬ 
cribed, and including within its boundaries, Boston harbor, and 
the adjoining territory, and also all lands, ground, place and 
places, soils, havens, ports, rivers, waters, jurisdiction, rights, 
royalties, liberties, freedoms, immunities, privileges, franchises, 
preeminences, hereditaments, and commodities whatsoever, with¬ 
in the chartered limits, was granted to Sir Henry Rosewell and 
others, his associates therein named. This charter of Charles I 
constituted and made the grantees, and their successors and as¬ 
signs, a body politic and corporate, with ample legislative, and 
other powers, for the government and ordering of the granted 
lands, and the people inhabiting the same, in full sovereignty, 
with some small reservations which are not material to the pres¬ 
ent investigation. 

The right of the king to make this grant, with all its prerog¬ 
atives and powers of government, cannot at this day be ques¬ 
tioned. The charters were granted by the proper organ of the 
government for that purpose. They were substantially similar 
to charters granted about the same time to other companies and 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


9 


individuals, for the colonization and settlement of British colo¬ 
nies in America. 1 hose charters have always been acquiesced 
in and lecognized in England as valid grants of territories and 
powers. 1 he colonists in Massachusetts accepted the charter of 
Charles 15 assumed a political capacity; exercised dominion, 
according to its provisions, over all the territory and inhabitants 
within the chartered limits; made grants of townships and 
smaller tracts of land for the purpose of settlements, and suc¬ 
ceeded to all the territorial rights of the British sovereign, gov¬ 
ernment, and nation. 

It is true, that this colonial charter of Charles I was annulled 
in 1684 by an arbitrary decree in chancery,—a decree against 
which the colonists protested, and which was by a solemn vote 
of the House of Commons declared to be “ illegal and void.” 
But the provincial charter of William and Mary in 1691, re¬ 
newed the grant of the colonial charter with similar powers of 
government, and confirmed the titles which had been granted 
under it by the colonial authority. The province thus succeed¬ 
ed to all the territorial rights of the colony, and at the revolu¬ 
tion, the Commonwealth succeeded to all the territorial rights of 
the province. The title of the Commonwealth to the land 
within its borders, and all the land titles in the Commonwealth, 
are thus traced to their origin, under and by virtue of the royal 
charters. Thus, also, it appears, that the Commonwealth is 
seized of all the lands, whether upland, flats, or land under nav¬ 
igable waters, within the bounds of the State, which have not 
been heretofore granted by the colony, province, or Common¬ 
wealth; and we thus perceive, that on this subject, what in 
England is mere assumption, is here fact; what there, is a 
mere theory of the feudal system, is here, reality; what there, 
is a mere fiction of law, is here, absolute verity. 

Having thus shown that the Commonwealth has the right of 
property in a large portion of the flats in the harbor of Boston, 
and the right of eminent domain in all, the commissioners pro¬ 
ceed to inquire what are the limitations and restrictions of its 
rights and power in and over those flats. 

1st. The right of eminent domain is limited only by the Con¬ 
stitution of Massachusetts, the Constitution of the United States, 
and the laws made in pursuance thereof, and the public exigen- 
2 


10 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


cies. The existence and extent of the public exigencies are to be 
determined by the sound judgment and discretion of the Legis¬ 
lature. 

2d. The right and power of the Commonwealth are limited 
by the ordinance of 1641. By that ordinance the riparian own¬ 
ers have the property of the flats lying between the lines of high 
water mark and low water mark, or a hundred rods, as the case 
may be. Over the flats included between these lines, the Com¬ 
monwealth have only the right of eminent domain. 

3d. The right of the Commonwealth is limited by other 
grants of soil or easements, or by prescription which is founded 
on the supposition of a grant to individuals or corporations. 
Such grants have been made by the Legislature, from time to 
time, for various purposes. These grants have been made not 
only of flats beyond the hundred-rod line mentioned in the ordi¬ 
nance of 1641, but extending in and across deep waters and 
channels. To the extent of these grants, the Commonwealth 
has relinquished its title and power. Such grants are in the 
nature of contracts; and the Commonwealth can pass no law 
impairing their obligation. The number and extent of the rights 
acquired by these grants have not been ascertained by the com¬ 
missioners. 

4th. The riparian owners have the right, appurtenant to 
their land and wharves, to the use of the water for the pur¬ 
pose of passing to and from their lots and wharves. The Com¬ 
monwealth cannot divest them of this right, except by the con¬ 
stitutional exercise of the power to take private property for 
public purposes. If therefore, for example, the value of a wharf 
is impaired by the construction of a railroad, dam, or other 
structure, between the wharf and the channel, the owner of the 
wharf is entitled to compensation for the damages thus sustained 
by him. 

5th. The rights and powers of the Commonwealth in rela¬ 
tion to the flats are restricted by the powers granted to the gov¬ 
ernment of the United States. The Commonwealth cannot ex¬ 
ercise its power in a manner repugnant to the Constitution of 
the United States, or the laws made in pursuance thereof. That 
Constitution declares, 

1 st. That Congress shall have power to regulate commerce 
with foreign nations and among the several States. 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


11 


2d. That the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
the privileges of citizens in the several States. 

3d. That the judicial power of the United States shall ex¬ 
tend to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. 

Pursuant to these provisions, Boston has been made a port of 
entry and delivery. Under the Constitution, treaties and laws 
of the United States, the navigable waters of its harbor are a 
highway for the ships of all friendly nations, and this Com¬ 
monwealth has no right to exclude or obstruct their free ingress 
and egress. The State cannot therefore grant to its own citizens 
the free use of its waters for any purposes of lawful navigation 
or commerce, to the exclusion of all or any other persons. But 
Congress has passed no law directly affecting the flats in the 
harbor, or impairing the right of the Commonwealth to legis¬ 
late on all subjects of internal police within its territorial limits, 
which are not prohibited by the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, although such legislation may indirectly and re¬ 
motely affect navigation and commerce, provided it does not 
contravene the regulations of Congress on the same subject. 
The Commonwealth may therefore authorize the erection of a 
bridge, dam, or railroad, across navigable waters, and may, to 
some extent, appropriate them to other purposes, by authorizing 
the construction of a solid dam across a creek oi cove, and per¬ 
mitting the land to be filled up and converted into upland. 

The better opinion seems to be, in England, that the king holds 
the land between high and low water mark, as well as under 
all navigable waters, in trust for the use of the people; and 
though he may grant his private right to others, it must still be 
subject, in the hands of his grantee, to the right of all his sub¬ 
jects to'pass and repass, without obstruction, on both the land 
and water. It has been supposed by some that, in analogy to 
this principle, the Commonwealth holds the flats over which its 
title extends, in trust for all the people, and can only alienate 
them subject to this trust. But the analogy fails in two impor¬ 
tant particulars. 1st. The Commonwealth, in its sovereign 
capacity, possesses not only the rights and powers, on this sub¬ 
ject, which are possessed by the king in England, but also of 
the British Parliament, consisting of king, lords, and commons; 
and it has never been doubted that Parliament, in its arrogated 
omnipotence, may grant an exclusive right to flats, unincumbered 


12 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


by the supposed trust. 2d. The Commonwealth is the public 
—the people—in whom, in their collective capacity, full sov¬ 
ereignty resides. The Commonwealth is, therefore, both the 
trustee and beneficiary. The trust estate and beneficial inter¬ 
est are united, and consequently the trust is merged in the fee. 

Subject to the restrictions and limitations before mentioned, 
the Commonwealth has the full power, title and control of the 
fiats in Boston harbor. The right to manage and dispose of 
them is, by the Constitution of the Commonwealth, vested in 
the Legislature. The Commonwealth may, by the acts and at 
the discretion of the Legislature, cause or permit them to be ex¬ 
cavated or embanked, or retained, or otherwise disposed of. It 
may grant them to the city, to the riparian proprietors, or to 
other persons or corporations, at such times, in such manner, on 
such terms and conditions, and for such considerations of public 
benefit, pecuniary or otherwise, as the Legislature, in the exer¬ 
cise of its sound, constitutional discretion, may judge to be most 
proper, and most conducive to the public interest and welfare. 

J Having passed upon the first branch of the subject, viz., “the 
rights of the Commonwealth,” we will now proceed to another 
branch, “ the duties of the Commonwealth” in relation to the 
fiats in question. This involves the remaining inquiries con¬ 
tained in the resolve, “ whether the public good requires that 
any portion of said flats should be filled, and whether the mari¬ 
time interests do now, or probably may hereafter, require the 
excavation of any part of them.” 

The subject is one of great importance, involving in no small 
degree the future growth of the city, and the commercial pros¬ 
perity of the State. Nor has this subject escaped the attention 
of the Legislature. In 1835, a commission was created by a 
legislative resolve, to examine the subject, and report lines 
“beyond which no wharves shall be extended into the waters 
of the harbor.” This commission consisted of Loammi Bald¬ 
win, S. Thayer, and James Hayward, Esquires, three engineers 
of ability and experience, who, after a full examination of the 
subject, submitted in 1837 a detailed report. Though the pri¬ 
mary object of this commission was to “ fix a line, beyond which 
no wharves should be extended,” yet, as might have been ex¬ 
pected of gentlemen of their character and experience, they took 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


13 


an enlarged view of the character and condition of the harbor, 
and expressed their apprehensions that the filling up of large 
portions of the flats would be detrimental to the commerce of 
Boston. This part of their report is so lucid, and so expressive 
of the views which we entertain, that we cannot refrain from 
giving a portion of it. 

“ The harbor of Boston,” they say, “ is not an open, broad bay, 
surrounded on all sides by the sea shore, where the tide simply 
ebbs and flows with a gentle and almost imperceptible current, 
but it is wholly made and continued as channels, through which 
the tides ascend into immense basins and rivers, some of which 
reach many miles into the country, and from which the tides 
descend again into the ocean, and in their progress, scour out 
the channels according to the quantity and velocity of the cur¬ 
rent produced by the ebb. That part on the southeast, called 
Fore Point Channel, is thus made by the tide passing into South 
Bay,—and the harbor on the north side is only the channel 
through which the tide flows into the Charles and Mystic Rivers 
to the head of tide water, to Watertown on the first, and Mystic 
Pond on the latter. During spring tides the current acts more 
sensibly in all these channels, as there is a greater quantity 
passing in the same time than in ordinary neap tides. In the 
latter, the usual range between high and low water is about 
seven feet, and during the former the range is fourteen feet from 
high water to low. It is the channel produced by these alter¬ 
nate currents in opposite directions, in the South Bay, or the 
great reservoir of the two rivers, that constitute all the advan¬ 
tages of Boston harbor for commercial purposes. 

“Boston harbor being only a channel for the tide to flow in 
and out of the great reservoir before mentioned, it may not be 
irrelevant to show how it may be suddenly oi giadually des¬ 
troyed, and become only a safe anchorage for lighter coasting 
craft, where the largest merchant vessels, and even ships of the 
line, now ride in deep water in perfect safety. It is obvious to 
every reflecting man, that if a dam were to be built upon the 
site where South Boston Free Bridge or South Boston Bridge 
now stands, and the tide be prevented from flowing above, Fore 
Point Channel would soon be filled with sediment, and not be 
distinguished from the surface of the flats on the southeast side. 
Similar effects would also result from the erection of dams in 


14 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


the places of Chelsea and Charles River Bridges. These would 
stop the tides, and as there would be no current either way, silt 
and sediment would in a short time fill this beautiful part of the 
harbor, and render it only accessible for fishing boats. 

11 The commissioners are aware that this is putting a strong 
case, as no such dam can ever be erected without the sanction 
of the Legislature. But, what would evidently be the conse¬ 
quence in the course of a few years by the supposed dams, will 
as certainly be effected more gradually, and the ruin of the har¬ 
bor be as complete at a more distant period, by cutting off large 
portions of the Charles and Mystic Rivers above the two bridges, 
either to stop the tides altogether or partially, from flowing and 
filling the extensive basins of either.” 

This board, after citing the ordinance of 1641, granting the 
right to the shore owners to extend one hundred rods, or to the 
channel, declare that “ they believe, and feel it to be their duty 
to state the reasons, that the full and equal enjoyment of the 
right given by this ancient law, is inconsistent with the existence 
of the harbor. An instance is presented in South Bay. The 
proprietors of the shores surrounding the flats of this basin, have 
a right to build their wharves, or solid filling, extending one 
hundred rods into or over tide water, if not interrupted by chan¬ 
nels within that distance. As we do not know any legal objec¬ 
tion to their exercising or selling this right, and one hundred 
rods in width around this basin will make a considerable part 
of its area, Fore Point Channel maybe affected, and as the South 
Cove Company have already filled nearly all the surface of the 
flats between the two bridges, the absolute ruin of that channel 
hangs upon the contingency, whether the ancient law is in force 
relative to the tide water in South Bay, and whether the own¬ 
ers will exercise their rights. The same effect may be produced 
in numerous places on the Charles and Mystic Rivers, by a dif¬ 
ferent mode, but quite as fatal to that part of the harbor.” 

Such are the views expressed by the enlightened and scientific 
gentlemen composing that commission; and though in fixing 
their line, “ beyond which no wharves should be permitted to ex¬ 
tend,” they may, in a few instances, have enlarged, rather than 
curtailed the water rights of individuals, they have kept the 
capacity and safety of the harbor constantly in view: and have 
made the arrangement, as they say, “so as to produce the few- 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


15 


est eddies and the least deviation from the easy flow of the cur¬ 
rents, which the case admits.” 

This commission reported a line on both sides of Fore Point 
Channel, but the Legislature adopted only the line on the Bos¬ 
ton side,—a line commencing at South Boston Bridge, and fol¬ 
lowing round the easterly and northerly sides of the city to 
Warren Bridge. 


J2- 




In 1839 another commission was created, consisting of H. A. 

S. Dearborn, James F. Baldwin, and Caleb Eddy, Esquires, to f * ^ 

mark on the plan of the former commissioners such lines as 
they might think expedient to establish, “beyond which no 
wharves shall be extended.” This authority related only to 
such parts of the line as had not been adopted by the Legisla¬ 
ture. Their powers being limited, they did not go extensively , 
into the question of affecting the channels in the harbor by fill- I 
ing up the flats. They, however, admit the importance of pre-j 
serving the harbor; they allow that certain portions of the chan¬ 
nels have been filling up, and that it is impossible to determine in 
advance what effects would be produced by any obstructions 
being placed where the tide now flows. They say, however, 

“ It may be assumed as an important and well established ele¬ 
ment in the inquiry, that whatever is done that shall reduce the 
quantity of water that passes into the large estuaries and bays 
north, west, and south of the city, and now covers the vast ex¬ 
tent of shoals in other parts of the harbor, will have a direct 
tendency to create obstructions at some points in the various 
channels, while at others, the depths may be deepened.” 

But while they admit that the filling up of any portion of the"} 
flats in any part of the harbor, may affect it injuriously, they 
appear to think that the demand for land is more pressing than 
for water accommodations. They say, “ But such is the impe> 
riously increasing demand for greater accommodation by all the 
branches of the infinitely varied industry in which the accumu¬ 
lating population of the metropolis is employed, that it is impos¬ 
sible to meet it without yielding much of mere theory, to the 
practical advantages which will be gained from the increased 
facilities which such encroachments are intended to afford.” But 
notwithstanding their desire to accommodate business by en¬ 
croachments upon tide water, they say u that the proprietors of 
land on the northern shore of South Boston, should not be al- 


J 



16 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


lowed to extend wharves or other structures over the flats situ¬ 
ated between that shore and the main channel which separates 
those flats from those of East Boston, Bird, and Governor’s Is¬ 
lands, beyond the distance of one hundred rods, as prescribed in 
the Old Colony law of 1641.” 

This commission recommended lines from Warren Bridge to 
the Mill Dam, and also on the shores of Charlestown and East 
Boston, and on the easterly side of Fore Point Channel; which 
were adopted by the Legislature. 

In 1845 another commission, consisting of James Hayward, 
and Ezra Lincoln, Jr., Esquires, was created. In their report, 
which was submitted to the Legislature the year following, sev¬ 
eral important facts were stated which have a direct bearing upon 
the subject before us. It appears by their report that the South 
Bay, above the Old South Boston Bridge, contained, in 1846, 
345 acres, and of this area, 250 or 300 acres were liable to be 
fdled up by the shore owners; and that contracts had then been 
made to fill certain portions of these flats; and we know that 
the work is now progressing,—so that the day is not distant 
when the whole of that basin will be completely filled, except 
the small portion which maybe situated below the one hundred 
rod line. 

We also learn from this report, that by actual measurement it 
was found that the area of Mystic River above Chelsea Bridge, 
within its banks at low water, was 878 acres, and that the area 
of the flats and marshes covered at high water was 1533 acres, 
making 74 per cent, more of the flats and marshes than of the 
iriver itself: and that the area of Charles River above Charles 
River Bridge, including Miller’s River, (the estuary back of 
East Cambridge,) and the bay back of the State Prison, was 
1340 acres,—and that the marsh land connected with it, which 
was overflowed at high tide, was 915 acres;—showing the ex¬ 
cess of the river over the marshes and flats of some 35 per cent. 
It appears then from the report, that the aggregate area of the 
flats and marshes overflowed by the tides on the Mystic and 
Charles Rivers, is 2448 acres ; while the rivers themselves, above 
the bridges, contain 2218 acres;—being 230 acres less of the 
rivers than of the marshes. 

The commissioners seem to be deeply impressed with the ne¬ 
cessity of keeping open, as far as possible, the estuaries above 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


17 


« 


Chelsea and Charles River Bridges, to preserve the channels in 
the harbor. They suggest certain improvements in Mystic 
River, so as to justify the opening of Mystic Pond, “ for the pur¬ 
pose of increasing the scour ; ” and give it as their opinion, “ that 
the operation would be beneficial to the channel of Mystic River 
throughout its whole extent, and also to the main channel in the 
harbor.” 

Again they say, “ The importance of this river and bay,” 
(Charles River, and the bay above West Boston Bridge,) “ and 
that of the Mystic, to the preservation of the main channel down 
to the islands, is altogether incalculable. They are the two main 
arteries which literally supply the life current of Boston harbor. 
And the commissioners would respectfully recommend to the 
Legislature the preservation of these estuaries, to the greatest 
extent that may be consistent with the rights of individual pro¬ 
prietors of bordering estates. If the modern construction of the 
colonial law of 1641, that the riparian proprietor has a right to 
exclude the tide water from the flats in front of his estate, to the 
distance of one hundred rods, if there be no intervening chan¬ 
nel, must prevail, then Boston harbor is in danger of serious in¬ 
jury. The subject is one which commends itself to the careful 
consideration of the Legislature. The whole State has an inter¬ 
est in it. The preservation of Boston as a place of trade, of 
commerce, of ships, is every year increasing in importance to 
the whole northern section of the country. Every part of New 
England has its railroads running to this city. These have 
been built for the purposes or business, of trade. They connect 
the interior of the country with the commerce of the world. But 
annihilate the harbor of Boston, and these expensive facilities 
for intercommunication will become of but little value, either to 
the city or the country. 

“ The building of new wharves, the extension of old ones, the 
filling up of flats to the exclusion of the tide, and consequent 
diversion of the currents, to a greater or less degree, are pro¬ 
ducing changes in the state of the harbor, some of them inno¬ 
cent—some of them more or less detrimental to the channels,— 
and some of them tending to serious consequences. Changes 
of this kind have been observed since the survey made in 1835. 
Some of these are traceable to particular causes, and tend to 
throw light on the general subject of causes and effects in rela- 

3 






FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


18 


[Jan. 


tion to these changes. They all show the importance of having 
the harbor taken care ofp 

So impressed were these commissioners with the importance 
of keeping open the flats above the bridges, that in drawing 
their line, below which no obstructions should be placed in 
Charles River, they cut off about 120 acres of flats or marshes, 
above low water mark, which belonged to the riparian propri¬ 
etors, being within the one hundred-rod line;—a tract, which 
a subsequent commission reported could not be kept open with¬ 
out a charge upon the Commonwealth, of some forty-five or 
fifty thousand dollars. 

After expressing these truly enlightened and philosophic 
views, and presenting them so clearly to the consideration of 
the Legislature, we confess ourselves unable to comprehend the 
views they take of the South Bay, and the effect of filling it up, 
upon Fore Point Channel, and the main channel in the har¬ 
bor. They say, “ with a proper disposition of the channels and 
flats below, it is believed that this reduction of the area of South 
Bay will have no prejudicial effect on the main channel of the 
harbor.” And again : “ In the present state of things, Fore 
Point Channel would undoubtedly suffer by a very great reduc¬ 
tion of the capacity of South Bay ; but if the wall, which was 
proposed to be built on the eastern margin of this channel, were 
erected, it would counteract to a great degree the inconvenient 
effects of such reduction.” 

As we propose to give our views upon this part of the subject 
hereafter, we will now proceed to notice the report of the next 
commission, which was instituted in 1846. This commission 
consisted of T. G. Cary, Simeon Borden, and Ezra Lincoln, Jr., 
Esquires. In their report they go vastly beyond all other com¬ 
missioners, and express the opinion that not only all the flats in 
front of South Boston, lying above low water, with the excep¬ 
tion of a small portion opposite Rowe’s wharf, but also some two 
hundred acres below low water mark, may be filled up without 
detriment to the harbor. They propose a line drawn “from the 
southerly corner of Rowe’s wharf to the most salient angle of 
the northwestern bastion of the fortification on Castle Island.” 
“This line,” they say, “passes mainly through points where 
the soundings are about four feet in depth at low water.” But 
while they are thus liberal in their recommendation for the fill- 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


19 


ing lip of the South Boston flats, they admit that any such 
wholesale encroachments upon the tide water above the city 
would be a dangerous experiment. They say : “If the whole 
area of flats opposite South Boston were above the city, re¬ 
ceiving the tide through any channels by which vessels must 
pass to reach their places of discharge, there can be no question 
that it would be extremely dangerous to the commerce of the 
port to enclose them. To exclude from such a basin a volume 
of water that aids to scour the channel in the upper harbor, as 
it passes to and from the sea, four times a day, might produce 
changes of the most injurious character. The enclosure of the 
Back Bay, as it is called, by the Western Avenue, is an instance 
of this kind, which it would be hazardous to repeat. But the 
flats in question are below the city. The water that covers 
them aids in no such scouring process. That process is in fact 
diminished in its effects, by suffering a portion of the water that 
daily ascends as a supply for the upper basin, to flow over so 
wide a surface, instead of confining its passage to the chan- 
nels.” 

We have now passed in review the reports of the several 
commissions on the subject before us; and though they differ 
in some particulars, they all agree that the channels in our har¬ 
bor are kept open by the scouring effect of the tide, and that 
filling up the flats, so as to confine tide water within the boun¬ 
daries of low water mark, would greatly lessen the power and 
velocity of the currents, reduce the scouring process, and so di¬ 
minish the depth of the channels. These positions are so self- 
evident that we shall not attempt to fortify them by any argu¬ 
ments of our own. We concur with our intelligent and expe¬ 
rienced predecessors, and are willing to rest this part of the 
subject on the strength of their arguments. We cannot add to 

their force. 

But while we agree with these gentlemen in their general posi¬ 
tions, and are willing to adopt most of their conclusions as our 
own ; we are not so clear that Fore Point Channel is an exception 
to the rules which they lay down, or to the doctrines for which 
they contend. If the South Bay were kept open to its full ex¬ 
tent, a sea wall upon the easterly side of Fore Point Channel 
might quicken the current in that channel, and so increase its 
depth. But as the greater part of that spacious bay is, oi will 


20 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 

be, closed so as to exclude the water which has heretofore en- 

I tered it, we are unable to perceive why the same causes which 
are allowed to operate in other parts of the harbor, may not op¬ 
erate here to the injury of this channel. Nor are we able to see 
how a sea wall on the easterly side of this channel can avert the 
calamity, in case South Bay should be filled up. In that case, 
there would be little more than a narrow channel left open 
above the South Boston bridges, and no water would pass up 
Fore Point Channel, except what would be required to fill the 
narrow channel above the bridges. 

Now if any portion of the flats bordering on Fore Point Chan¬ 
nel, are filled from this channel at the flowing of the tide, and 
the water from the flats returns through the channel at the ebb¬ 
ing of the tide, then the quantity of water passing up and down 
the channel at every ebb and flow, must be greater without the 
wall than with it. As the ebb and flow of the tide must take 
place in a given period of time, the current must increase with 
the quantity of water that passes through the channel, and 
hence, the channel would be more likely to be kept open with 
the flats in their present state than if they were cut off from the 
channel by a sea wall. The subject then resolves itself into a 
question of fact, viz., whether Fore Point Channel does supply 
any portion of the flats with water at the flow, and receive it 
again from the flats at the ebbing of the tide. Many affidavits, 
taken by the Boston Wharf Company several years ago, were 
presented to the commissioners to show that a sea wall on the 
easterly side of Fore Point Channel, extending down as low as 
the oyster banks, would improve that channel. But it is worthy 
of special notice that these depositions were not only ex parte, 
but were taken when South Bay was open, and was likely to 
remain open ;—a state of things very different from what exists 
at present. It is also true that some of the most intelligent and 
practical of these deponents found their opinion of the utility of 
a sea wall upon the apprehension, that the great volume of water 
from South Bay might cut a new channel through the flats to 
the main ship channel, and so leave Fore Point Channel to fill 
up. This was particularly the case with Winslow Lewis, Esq., 
who had for a long series of years watched with great care the 
operations of the water in that part of the harbor. Much of this 
testimony would be materially modified by the present state of 
things relative to the filling up of South Bay. 


1850.] 


SENATE-No. 3. 


21 


But these depositions appear to be conclusive on one point, viz., 
that a portion of the South Boston flats are filled by water from 
Fore Point Channel, and that at the ebbing of the tide, the water 
returns again through this channel to the ocean. The channels 
or gullies extending from Fore Point Channel some fifteen hun¬ 
dred feet into the flats, as seen on the chart of the coast survey, 
prove most conclusively, that a sea wall on the eastern margin 
of Fore Point Channel would cut off from that channel a large 
quantity of water which now passes through it at every ebb and 
flow of the tide. This fact being established, it follows of course 
that the sea wall on the eastern margin would reduce the vol¬ 
ume, and conseqently the velocity of water in this channel; and 
with South Bay filled up, as will soon be the case, we have 
strong fears that the alarming result spoken of by the first board 
of commissioners, in case a dam were created at South Boston 
Bridge, will soon be realized, and that Fore Point Channel will 
be rendered useless for all purposes of navigation. 

Nor is it by any means certain that filling up all the South 
Boston flats,—a tract of some seven or eight hundred acres, now 
covered by water, at every tide, to the depth of eight or ten feet, 
will not prove injurious to the main channels in the harbor. It was 
in evidence before the commissioners that there had been a great 
reduction in the depth of Fore Point Channel, and also in the 
main ship channel both in the upper and lower harbor. At the 
“ Narrows,” so called, in the lower harbor, it was shown that 
the water had shoaled from three to five feet within the last 
twenty or thirty years ; and that though this was ascribed in 
a good degree to the washing away of the islands and head¬ 
lands in the outer harbor, the same accretion is observable.in 
the upper harbor, where these causes do not exist. In Fore 
Point Channel, at the “upper middle,” and indeed in almost 
every part of the harbor, the channels are becoming more ob¬ 
structed by becoming more shoal or more narrow. It is a well 
known fact, that at the wharves and in the docks theie is a con¬ 
stant accretion of matter, so as to render it necessary to dredge 
them out once in four or five years. S. S. Lewis, agent of the 
Cunard line of steamers, and one of the commissioneis to pio- 
cure a survey of Boston harbor, testified that fiom his own per¬ 
sonal observation, he knew that not only the docks, but the 
channels in the upper harbor, were becoming more narrow: and 


22 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


he gave it as his opinion, that a wall on the easterly side of Fore 
Point Channel would increase this tendency. Winslow Lewis, 
Esq., whose acquaintance with the harbor extends back more 
than half a century, states expressly, that in 1814, the water at 
the shoalest point of the channel, that is, between the upper 
middle and Governor’s Island, was twenty-one feet deep,— 
where it is now but seventeen feet. At Liverpool wharf, the 
water from 1803 to 1808, was fourteen feet deep, where in 1849 
it was but nine feet. Thomas Lamb, Esq., one of the Marine 
Society, testifies that the association of which he is a member, 
has, from time to time, examined persons acquainted with the 
subject, and from the information thus obtained, they are satis¬ 
fied that the water in the channels has shoaled within the last 
thirty years from two to five feet. This is particularly true of 
the outer harbor. This effect he ascribes in part to the filling 
up of the flats in and about Boston. He is also of the opinion 
that filling up South Bay and the South Boston flats, would 
prove injurious to the harbor, and would probably cause Fore 
Point Channel to fill up, as far down as India wharf; and that 
any considerable diminution of the capacity of the upper har¬ 
bor, or the estuaries above the city, would weaken the force of 
the current, and by diminishing the quantity of water from the 
upper harbor, would disturb the balance of force between the 
different and contending currents in the lower habor, and so en¬ 
danger still more, the main ship channel at the narrows. Mr. 
Z. Jellison testified substantially to the same facts. 

By a chart published in 1761, from an actual survey, and 
corrected and revised by Osgood Carlton, Esq., it appears that 
off Fort Hill the water in Fore Point Channel was fifteen feet 
deep, where it is now only ten or eleven ; and off what is now In¬ 
dia Wharf, it was then thirty feet, where it is now only thirteen. 
A comparison of that ancient chart with the recent plans of the 
city and the harbor, shows that great changes have taken place 
within the last ninety years. By recent soundings taken by 
Mr. Parrott, under the direction of this commission, it appears 
that soft mud is the material always found by him on the mar¬ 
gins of the channels; thereby furnishing good evidence that 
the channels are becoming more narrow by accretion. 

But the arguments against filling up these flats are met by 
the declaration,—that the quantity of water which would be dis- 




1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


23 


placed by the proposed improvements, would be so small as to 
be hardly appreciable upon the main currents in the harbor. 
But a glance at what has been done, and what may be done, by 
the shore owners, will show that the quantity of water which 
has been and may be displaced is far from being inconsiderable. 
Boston proper, which originally contained less that 1000 acres, 
now contains more than 3000 acres. This increase of more 
than 2000 acres has all been made by encroachments upon tide 
water. In addition to this, the Mill Dam cut off 700 or 800 
acres more;—to this may be added the large quantity of land 
made at Cambridge, Charlestown, Chelsea, and East Boston. 
Here we have an area of several thousand acres which are for¬ 
ever lost to the harbor. This exclusion of tide water from so 
large a surface, has produced a sensible effect upon the channels 
in the harbor. The harbor master testified that the filling up 
above Charles River Bridge, has produced a visible effect upon 
the current between Boston and East Boston. By reducing the 
volume of water from Charles River, the former balance of 
power between the currents from the Charles and Mystic Riv¬ 
ers at their confluence, had been destroyed ; and the conse¬ 
quence was, that the main current between Boston and East Bos¬ 
ton was brought nearer to the Boston shore than it was formerly. 

But we are not to confine our attention to the three or four 
thousand acres of flats which have been already irrevocably lost 
to the harbor. By the report of Messrs. Hayward and Lincoln, 
in 1846, it appears that at that time the tide flowed over an 
area of 5000 acres above the Charles River, Chelsea, and South 
Boston bridges ; and of this 5000 acres, 2700 were above low 
water mark, and so were liable to be filled up by the shore 
owners, leaving only about 2300 acres to be flowed by the tides. 
It should also be borne in mind that every acre of the flats sit¬ 
uated just above low water, is as important to the harbor, and 
receives and discharges as much water, as an acre in the deep¬ 
est channel; it being only the water between high and low 
water mark which carries on the scouring process, by which 
the channels are kept open. When we are called upon to de¬ 
cide whether it would be safe to fill up eight or nine hundred 
acres in front of South Boston, we are to remember that one 
half of this area may be filled at the pleasure of the shore own¬ 
ers; and the real question to be decided is, whether the State 



24 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 



should, at the present time, authorize the filling up of some four 
hundred acres more, in addition to the five or six hundred 
acres at South and East Boston, and the twenty-seven hundred 
acres above the bridges, all of which may be filled by their re¬ 
spective owners, and much of which will probably be filled, as 
the demand for land is constantly increasing. 

When the subject is stripped of all its disguises, and is pre¬ 
sented in its naked form, we are inclined to hesitate before we 
pronounce in favor of filling up the flats over which the State has 
control. When the safety of the harbor is placed in competition 
with any magnificent scheme of land speculation, we must de¬ 
cide in favor of what we believe to be the safety of the harbor. 
When we consider, that a volume of water, of an average depth 
of at least seven feet, covering an area larger than the whole 
city of Boston proper, is now liable to be excluded from the har¬ 
bor, we want something more than a mere speculative theory of 
tides and channels, to justify us in adding to this quantity. 
When we consider, that flats once filled can never be restored 
to harbor accommodations, but that flats kept open, can, at 
any future period be filled, when it shall have been demonstra¬ 
ted by experience, that previous fillings have wrought no inju¬ 
ry to the harbor,—we believe it to be the dictate of wisdom 
to pause before we make any further grants, except they be ac¬ 
companied with an obligation to make corresponding excava¬ 
tions, or other improvements, in the harbor. 

There is, undoubtedly, a natural tendency in all harbors, to 
fill up. Changes are continually going on along the shores. 
Rivers are constantly bringing down sediment, which is gener¬ 
ally deposited near their mouths. From this operation no harbor 
is entirely exempt; and before any artificial measures are adop¬ 
ted to increase the quantity of land in and about our city, we 
should be sure that the harbor will receive no detriment. 
Great attention has been paid to this subject, in Great Britain, 
where their harbors and rivers are very similar to our own. 

When the Dock Bill, in relation to improvements at Liver¬ 
pool, was before the House of Commons, in 1844, much valua¬ 
ble testimony was produced, and many important facts were 
elicited. We will give a few extracts from the evidence, as it 
is as applicable to Boston as to London or Liverpool. 

cc The importance of the proper management of this great 






1850.] 


SENATE—No. 


25 


power, viz., the tide, which nature has placed at our disposal, 
cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The same force which 
breaks up and denudes our coasts, and blocks up with sand or 
shingle our estuaries, throws up at the same time into our rivers 
millions of tons of water every twelve hours, which by judicious 
management and timely precaution, may be employed in coun¬ 
teracting the injurious effects of the sea without. Thus, in all 
estuaries filling up with sand, increase of reservoirs for the 
waters of the tide, would enable the river, in the ebb, to clear 
away the obstructions gradually offered to its course into the 
sea, and would maintain its depth of channel. This is not to be 
attained however, by any pent up water, acting by sluices as 
back water, which in its discharge, resembles a torrent, and 
produces similar effects, by driving before it for a short dis¬ 
tance, the mass it is made to act upon, and then leaving it; such 
contrivances, though advisable in clearing away mud where no 
obstruction is offered to its discharge into a stream, becomes in¬ 
significant and comparatively useless, when applied as counter¬ 
actions to the operations of the ocean. 

“ New channels may be formed, from an increase of deposit 
in one place, giving a new direction to the water in another, 
(and it is highly instructive to observe how an apparently very 
small cause may produce important modifications or altera¬ 
tions,) changing the channels and shifting the banks or 
shoals; but the generally resulting action, is filling up, viewed 
as a whole. 

c: Such are the variable conditions existing in estuaries, and 
so complicated, often, are the effects of the causes in action, 
that it becomes of the utmost importance well to study and re¬ 
flect upon the value of each cause, before we attempt changes 
in connection with an estuary intended foi our advantage, and 
this more especially, when a great commercial port is situated 
on a part of such estuary. Much mischief has been found to 
be occasioned in estuaries by embanking, producing sensible 
effects when portions, only covered by spring tides, have been 
taken for agricultural purposes. If we stop out the tide, j 
diminishing the volume of water, even supposing for conve¬ 
nience, that the velocity remains the same, which would not be , 
the case, the scour or mechanical action, cannot be the same as 
previouslyand this action being diminished, detritus, which | 

4 


26 FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. [Jan. 

would have been swept onward under the former conditions, 
would now remain and accumulate. 

11 My experience has been considerable, and fully establishes 
the ruinous consequences of the practice, too frequent in this 
country, of embanking tidal mud land, particularly where sea 
entrances, as well as navigable channels within the estuary, 
are kept open, rather by the tidal water, than by the size and 
power of the rivers which drain through them. 

“ It is evident, that if a certain portion of either side of a river 
or harbor be embanked, and the tide prevented from flowing 
over it in the usual way, a diminished quantity of water will 
flow in from the sea, equal to the cubic contents of what has 
been embanked, and consequently there will be a less quantity 
to ebb out;—and the scouring effect being thereby lessened, it 
will be rendered incapable of conveying out to the sea the suil- 
lage and alluvions matter washed down from the country, with 
the same force as before the embankment was made. 

“ Tide harbors are deep or otherwise, in proportion to the 
quantity of water that flows into them from the sea, and the 
fresh water that comes down from the interior. The greater the 
quantity of water, the greater will be the depth, from the effect 
which the increased body of water will have in scouring the 
bottom at the time of ebb tide, and carrying out the suillage, as 
before mentioned. By embankments within Portsmouth harbor, 
the depth of water of eighteen feet on the bar, has been reduced 
to thirteen feet,—by the want of back water,—and ships of war 
are obliged to take out their guns, even at high water.” 

This evidence, given by some of the most experienced en¬ 
gineers and practical men in Great Britain, applies with all its 
force and pertinency, to the harbor of Boston, and shows the 
danger of these extensive encroachments upon the sea. 

In settling the great question before us, we believe that the 
growing commerce of the city, has not been sufficiently consid- 
fered. We have obtained official statements of the imports and 
"exports of the port of Boston, and also of the arrivals and clear¬ 
ances, from 1830 to 1849, inclusive,—making a period of twen¬ 
ty years,—which we append to this report. By these state¬ 
ments it it will be seen, that our commerce, viewed in all its 
bearings, has at least tripled within that period. Taking the 
consecutive years of 1830, 1831, and 1832, our imports aver- 



\ 


1850 ] SENATE—No. 3. # 27 


aged $12,761,767, while in the three consecutive years, ending 
with 1849, the average imports were $28,593,100. Here is an 
increase of $15,831,333 within the medium period of eighteen 
years. And if we take the extreme period of twenty years, we 
shall see that the imports, which in 1830 amounted to only 
$8,348,653, have, in 1849, arisen to $24,117,175. 

But the values of our imports are not a test of the increase 
of business, so far as harbor accommodations are concerned. 
The great reduction in the prices of almost every article, will 
show that the quantity has increased in a greater ratio than the 
value; and it is manifest that it is the quantity, rather than the 
value, which shows the amount of accommodation which our 
shipping and navigating interest requires. Our arrivals and 
clearances, perhaps, furnish the surest test of the increase of our 
commerce. Our foreign arrivals in 1830, were only 642, while 
in 1849, they were 3,111 ;—being 484 per cent, more in 1849 
than in 1830. And our coasting arrivals, which in 1830 were 
2,938, have gone up, in 1849, to 6,156. The whole number of 
arrivals in 1830, both foreign and domestic, were 3,680;—while 
in 1849 they amounted to 9,267. But though these statements 
are official, they do not show the whole amount of the shipping 
in our harbor. A vast number of our coasting vessels neither 
enter nor clear, at the Custom House. These may safely be 
estimated at four thousand a year, which number is fast in¬ 




anchorage of the vessels, which our growing trade will call into 
this port. And even now these flats are used by vessels of a light 
draft of water. The eastern coasters, with wood and lumber, 
frequently pass across the flats at high water. And it was in 
evidence before the commissioners, that during periods of east¬ 
erly winds, when it is difficult to go to sea, theie are frequently 
several hundreds of these small vessels, mostly from Maine and 
the British Provinces, lying in the harbor; and, owing to the 
crowded state of the channel, large numbers of them resort to 







28 


[Jan. 


% 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 

the soft mod on the flats, for anchorage;—a fact that shows 
most conclusively, that fifty, or even twenty years hence, the 
very space which it is now proposed to fill up, will become ab¬ 
solutely necessary to accommodate the vessels in the harbor. 
The extreme line which has been recommended, which, for the 
sake of distinction, we will call Mr. Cary’s line, not only allows 
all the South Boston flats to be filled, with the exception of a 
small point opposite Rowe’s wharf, but actually cuts off nearly 
two hundred acres below low water mark;—the greater portion 
of which, as shown by the soundings, has a depth, at extreme 
low water, of from three to four feet,—while some portions of 
the harbor, thus proposed to be cut off, have a depth of from 
four to seven feet; and to these soundings we may add two feet, 
to show the depth at mean low water. Here there are nearly 
two hundred acres, well adapted to the anchorage of these small 
coasters, which it has been proposed to fill up; but which, we 
are satisfied, will, in a few years, become almost indispensably 
necessary for this class of vessels. We, therefore, should re¬ 
gard it as a departure from the dictates of true wisdom, to suf¬ 
fer any embankment or structure to be erected upon any of the 
harbor belonging to the State, which can be used as a road¬ 
stead, or converted into wet docks. 

The great argument in favor of filling up the flats, is. that 
more land is wanted for warehouses and dwellings. We admit 
that the circumscribed condition of the city is such as to create 
a good demand for land. But the harbor is as circumscribed as 
the town; and the demand, prospective at least, is as great for 
water as for land. In prospect, there is a great demand for 
both. But we consider the demand for water to be paramount. 
The demand for land is, in a great degree, an individual de¬ 
mand,—the demand of companies engaged in speculations ; 
while the demand for water is a demand of the public,—a de¬ 
mand of commerce,—in which the State and nation have a deep 
and vital interest. When such claims come in competition, that 
of the public should prevail. 

It may be some inconvenience to the merchant to reside out 
of the city,—but it would be a greater one to have his vessel 
compelled to anchor out of the harbor. The numerous and in¬ 
creasing trains upon our railroads, and the hourly and half 
hourly coaches which are constantly passing and repassing, be- 



1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


29 


tween the city and the neighboring towns, render it no great in¬ 
convenience to reside five, or even ten miles, from State street. 
Whether his residence is ten minutes’ or thirty minutes’ ride 
from his place of business, is of but little consequence to 
the merchant; but it is a matter of great moment to him 
whether his vessel can anchor in the upper harbor or in Nantas- 
ket roads. So of the railroad corporations, whose claims are 
urged with great force. They had better stop one or two hun¬ 
dred rods short of navigable water, than to run so far into tide 
water as to destroy the channels of the harbor,—and so render 
their railroads unproductive. We say again, that we regard the'’ 
demand for water as greater than that for land ;—the former 
being the demand of public, the latter, that of private interest. ( 
It has been represented to the commissioners, by a number of 
merchants, that there is a great demand for wharf accommoda¬ 
tions in the city, especially for lumber, molasses, and other 
bulky articles. We have no doubt but that it would be some¬ 
what convenient for persons engaged in those branches of trade, 
to have wharves where they could land such articles, and have 
them remain upon the wharf until they were disposed of. But it 
must be obvious that they could not afford to pay for such ac¬ 
commodations, situated in any central part of the city. They 
must, under any circumstances, occupy for such purposes, 
wharves somewhat removed from the centre of business; and 
we apprehend that there is but little difficulty in obtaining such 
accommodations now in the outparts of the city. We could 
name wharves, where we think that such accommodations 
could be had, and bulky articles could remain on the wharves 
without being liable to be disturbed by the press of business. It 
was in evidence before the commissioners, that wharf accom¬ 
modations in the city of Boston, were greater than in any of the 
great commercial cities and taking the amount of accommo¬ 
dation into the account, the rates of wharfage were less here 
than in the other great marts of trade. This evidence was given 
bv some of the very gentlemen who ask for more wharf accom¬ 
modation. But if there is a great demand for wharf room, that 
demand can be supplied by the erection of wharves at East Bos¬ 
ton, and other parts of the city, without encroaching upon the 

harbor. 

The gentlemen who advocate the filling of the flats, give ns 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


V 


30 

^glowing pictures of the prospective growth of the city, and the 
great increase of our trade, when our present railroads have ful¬ 
ly developed their capabilities for business, and when those now 
in the progress of construction shall have been completed. We 
accede to all these representations. We believe that the picture 
has not been overwrought. We anticipate a great increase of 
the trade of Boston;—and for that very reason, we think the 
capacity of the harbor should be enlarged, rather than dimin¬ 
ished. For that reason, we would arrest a policy, which, if 
encouraged, would prove ruinous to the harbor, and be subver¬ 
sive of the end which it professes to secure. We have already 
^ shown that our commerce has tripled in twenty years, and we 
see no reason why it may not continue to increase in the same 
ratio. The Western Railroad has already contributed greatly 
to the trade of Boston, by connecting our city with Troy and 
Albany; and when the several lines of railroad through New 
Hampshire and Vermont, which are now nearly completed, 
shall connect us with Lake Champlain, and so with Montreal,— 
and by the Ogdensburgh Railroad with the great lakes of the 
west, we believe that our trade will receive a new impulse. 

The importance of this northern and western trade can hard¬ 
ly be over-estimated. It is a fact well sustained, that for several 
years past, one half of the vast productions of the valley of the 
Mississippi, sent to the Atlantic, finds its way to market through 
the great lakes; and the rapid increase of population in the up- 
W, bf per part of this valley, together with the increased facilities of 
* | transportation by canals and railroads, which are now being 

^ ^furnished, will turn a larger per centage of this trade into the 
northern channel; so that the day is not remote when the 
0 amounjt of western productions which reaches the ocean through 
this northern outlet, will be far greater than that which passes 
down the Mississippi. In an able report, submitted to Congress 
Ok jj)in 1847, by Col. Abert, of the United States Topographical En- 
/v^ gineers, the commerce of the lakes, meaning the trade only in 
one direction, is set down at $62,000,000 in 1846, and the pro¬ 
ducts which arrived at New Orleans from the valley above, at 
the same sum. It also appears, by the same report, that while the 
trade down the Mississippi had increased, for the last few years, 
at the annual average rate of 5J per cent., that of the lakes had 
increased at the rate of 17J per cent. At this rate of increase, 



1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


31 


the commerce of the lakes in 1856, will amount to $170,500,000. 
This estimate, Col. Abert thinks perfectly safe. He says: “I 
see no reason to doubt the correctness of this estimate, and I 
feel under no apprehension of being reproached for exaggera¬ 
ting, after the ten years shall have passed away.” 

But in addition to the American commerce mentioned above, 
there is the trade with Canada, which ought to be taken into 
the account. The whole section of country, from Montreal to 
Lake Superior, is one capable of great productiveness, and as 
wheat land, is not inferior to the corresponding section on the 
American side of the line. The navigation of the St. Lawrence, . 
always objectionable on account of the distance and the danger, 
is closed about half of the year. The merchants in Canada are 
becoming satisfied that they can obtain their supplies more read¬ 
ily, and at a cheaper rate, through the United States than by 
the way of the St. Lawrence; and when our railroads are com¬ 
pleted, we shall be brought into immediate commercial inter¬ 
course with our Canadian neighbors. We have already alluded 
to the productiveness of Canada West. Its exports, in 1848, 
were about $10,000,000. Not only the soil, but the facilities of 
transportation, are such as may justify the belief that their trade 
with us will increase. The importance of this trade has not 
been sufficiently considered by the great mass of our people. 
Montreal, the point at which our railroads are to terminate, is 
immediately connected with the whole country above. The 
St. Lawrence, with the canals upon its margin, is navigable at 
all stages of the water to Lake Ontario; that lake is connected, 
by the Welland Canal with Lake Erie; so that steamers of four 
or five hundred tons burthen can pass from Montreal into the 
upper lakes. There is also a more northerly line of communi¬ 
cation between Montreal and Lake Ontario, by the way of the 
Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal, terminating at Kingston. 
And it is in contemplation to extend a railroad from Kingston, 
or some place on Lake Ontario, through one of the most produc¬ 
tive sections of Upper Canada, to Lake Manitouline thus con¬ 
necting Lake Ontario with Lake Superior, and thereby bring¬ 
ing the copper regions, to all practical purposes, seveial hundred 
miles nearer to us than they are at present. All these improve¬ 
ments in Canada, the Ogdensburgh Railroad, the canal from the 
Sorel River, near St. John, to the St. Lawrence, and the rail- 



FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


32 



road connecting St. Johns and Montreal,—must open a direct 
trade between Boston and the far West. 

The policy adopted by the national government, allowing a 
drawback upon merchandize sent inland to Canada, enables the 
Canadian merchant to obtain his goods from Europe, through 
the United States, free of duty;—and the growing dissatisfac¬ 
tion towards the mother country, and the increasing sympathy 
for us and our free institutions, felt by the people in these Pro¬ 
vinces, all tend to bind us together, and to increase ourcommer- 
cial intercourse. From this view of the subject, together with 
the increase of our population and manufacturing industry, we 
may fairly anticipate a regular increase of our commerce, and a 
growing demand for harbor accommodations. 

" There is another view of this subject, which ought not to be 
overlooked. By our present warehousing system, a large quan¬ 
tity of merchandize is kept constantly on hand, at Boston, and 
the merchant at Montreal or Kingston, may, at any time when 
the St. Lawrence is closed, obtain his supply of merchandize 
from our city, and this trade, once commenced, will be likely to 
continue. 

For this Canadian and western trade, Boston has no rival but 
New York. Between these cities there will be a brisk compe- 
tion for this trade; and it becomes us to adopt such a policy as 
will enable our commercial capital to compete on the most ad¬ 
vantageous terms. Experience has shown that the Western 
Railroad, intersecting the trade of the west at Albany, a point 
some thirty or forty miles nearer to New York than to Boston, 
has been able to divert a portion of that trade from New York ; 
and if we are able to compete, in any degree, with the great 
commercial emporium under these circumstances, we have full 
confidence in our success when our lines of communication are 
open to Montreal, where the difference in distance is greatly in 
our favor. 

The geographical position of Boston gives her a decided ad¬ 
vantage over her great rival, in a competition for the Canada 
trade. Samuel S. Lewis, Esq., agent of the English line of 
steamers, and who, from his position, is supposed to possess re¬ 
liable information on the subject, testified that we were nearer 
Europe, by three or four days’ sail, than New York,—and by 
the steamers, were nearer by a day and a half. He estimates 




1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


33 


the distance from Liverpool to Boston, by way of Halifax, at 
2,876 miles, and from Liverpool to New York, by way of Hali¬ 
fax, at 3,093 miles; and from Liverpool to Boston direct, 2,856 
miles, and from Liverpool to New York direct, at 3,073 
miles ;—making a difference in favor of Boston of 217 miles. 
The distance from Montreal to Boston, he sets down at 344 
miles,—and from Montreal to New York, at 398 miles;—being 
54 miles in favor of Boston ; so that the distance from Liver¬ 
pool to Montreal, by way of Boston, is 271 miles less than by 
way of New York. Though Boston has the advantage in dis¬ 
tance, and our railroads will be open when Lake Champlain 
and the Northern Canal are closed with ice, we must not forget 
that in New York we shall always fipd a powerful rival; and 
hence, it becomes us to afford every facility to this trade, by 
giving the greatest harbor accommodations in our power. 


We have already stated what we believe to be the rights 
of the Commonwealth, in the flats situated between the one 

I 

hundred-rod line and the channel. We have no doubt but that 
she has an interest, a vendible property, in these flats, which 
she may dispose of as she pleases, under the limitations we J 
have stated. And what is true of the flats in Boston harbor, is 
true of the flats similarly situated, in every other harbor in the 
State. The question is not local in its character, but is coex¬ 
tensive with our coast. It is a subject in which the whole State 
has an equal interest, and hence the impolicy and injustice of , 
granting these flats to individuals or corporations, without con¬ 
sideration. Neither the riparian owners, nor the city or town 
within whose territorial limits they may happen to be situa¬ 
ted, can claim them in virtue of their proximity. They belong 
to the State, and are the property of the whole people. 

But though the State possesses this property, and the Legis- < 
lature may dispose of it as they please, they are bound by every ' J 
consideration of sound policy to make such a disposition of 
these flats as will best promote the prosperity and general wel¬ 
fare of the community. The wealth of the State consists in/ 
the industry and enterprise of its citizens. WLatever excites 
enterprise, and gives employment to our people, must be re¬ 
garded as a public blessing. Nor is this blessing a mere pecuni¬ 
ary interest, to be measured by any standard of human coinage. 

5 




34 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


There is a general prosperity, a growing greatness, a State 
character, which is not to be overlooked ; and though all this is 
associated with prosperity in business, it involves something 
more. It is immediately connected with the intellectual and 
moral improvement of the people, and with those literary and 
charitable institutions for which this Commonwealth is already 
distinguished, not only among her sister states, but in foreign 
countries. This invaluable interest the Legislature is solemnly 
bound to guard and promote. 

Nor will they, as guardians of the public weal, confine their 
views to the present condition of things. Any policy which 
does not look forward at least a century, and consider the wants 
of the people at the end of that period, is repugnant to the spirit 
of the age, and so dishonorable to the character of this Com¬ 
monwealth. While the present wants of the people should be 
provided for, their future prosperity and welfare should not be 
overlooked. A system should be adopted, in the disposition of 
this property, which will meet the wants of the present genera¬ 
tion, and at the same time subserve the interest of those who 
come after us. If the State, actuated by a narrow and parsi¬ 
monious policy, should dispose of this property to individuals, 
and put the avails into her own treasury, in a short time this 
money would be expended, and so be forever lost to the State ; 
while the property, passing into private hands, would be appro¬ 
priated, to the perpetual injury of the harbor, and consequent 
detriment of the commerce of the Commonwealth. But, on the 
other hand, if the Legislature should hold this property in their 
own hands, to be appropriated from time to time for the improve¬ 
ment of the harbor and the promotion of commerce, a perpetual 
benefit would be conferred upon the whole people. 

We regard this interest in the flats as a sort of marine invest- 
[ merit for the benefit of the State, which should be managed with 
j a sole reference to the commercial prosperity of the whole peo¬ 
ple. Nor is this a partial or local view of the subject. Though 
these flats do not belong, as property, to the county of Suffolk, 
any more than to the county of Berkshire, yet it is the prosper¬ 
ity of Boston which has given a value to this property, and 
contributed to the general prosperity of the State. And though 
the disposition of these flats which we have indicated might, in 
the first instance, be more productive of the interest of Boston 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


35 


and its vicinity than to the rest of the Commonwealth, its bene¬ 
ficial effects would soon be realized by the people at large. 
Boston is not only the political but the commercial capital of 
the State, and whatever increases her commercial prosperity, 
confers a direct benefit upon the whole people, by creating a 
maiket, and increasing the demand for labor, and for every ar¬ 
ticle that labor can produce. The commercial prosperity of the 
city increases the amount of taxable property in the State, and 
gives rise to those moneyed institutions and business transactions 
from which the State derives its principal revenue. This com¬ 
mercial prosperity also gives an impulse to our manufacturing 
and mechanical industry, thereby creating a market for agricul¬ 
tural products, not only in our cities, but in every village 
throughout the State. If the Legislature, to realize a present 
pecuniary advantage, should dispose of all the flats in which 
the State has an interest, and should suffer them to be filled, to 
the ruin of the channel, and commerce should desert the city, 
the withering effects would soon be felt in the business prosper¬ 
ity of the whole State; and our young men would leave our 
rugged hills and ungenial climate, to seek in other States that 
employment which their own denied them. If the Legislature, , 
therefore, look to the permanent welfare of the whole people, 
they cannot, in our estimation, make a better or wiser disposi¬ 
tion of them than to dedicate them to the interest of commerce. 
The treasure is found in the deep; and let it be so appropriated 
that that deep may bear upon its surface, and bring to our 
shores, the more useful treasures of which we may all partake. 
But though we should regard it as unwise, and unjust to one 
portion of the community, to grant these flats to an individual 
or corporation, without consideration, yet we would recommend * 
that a liberal policy be adopted ; and if any portion of them can 
be filled without detriment to the harbor, grants should be made 
upon terms so favorable as to encourage enterprise, and ensure 
the completion of the work, that thereby an additional amount 
of property may be created, to sustain, by taxation and other¬ 
wise, the interests of the people. 

We believe that the growing commerce of the city will, with- ^ 
in fifty years, require the utmost capacity of the harbor; and j 
that nothing should be filled which is capable, by excavation, * 
of being converted, at a reasonable expense, into wet docks or 



t 


36 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


roadsteads. Being strongly impressed with this sentiment, and 
wishing to test the practicability of excavating all that section 
of the flats below the one hundred-rod line, and east of Fore 
Point Channel, the Commissioners employed Wm. W. Parrott, 
Esq., an engineer of known experience and ability, to sound 
these flats to the depth of twelve feet, in order to ascertain the 
character of the material, and the practicability of excavation. 
By his report and plan, which are herewith submitted, it ap¬ 
pears that there is no ledge, or other obstruction, which would 
render excavation impracticable or even difficult; and that the 
whole can be done at a small expense, compared with the great 
advantages which would result from such an improvement. 

Having given our views upon the general policy of the State 
in relation to these flats, we will now state, more specifically, 



We recommend that a straight line be drawn from the south¬ 
easterly corner of Emory’s wharf, south sixty-five degrees, and 
forty-five minutes east, to low water mark, in the vicinity of the 
public institutions at South Boston. The said line, drawn on 
the map herewith submitted, cuts the point where the line of 
the shore owners and the low water line intersect each other, as 
seen on said map. The line thus described should be the ex¬ 
treme distance from the shore to which any wharf should be 
allowed to extend. This line will not interfere with the rights 
of any of the shore owners, and will save to the harbor about 
450 acres, which Mr. Cary’s line would allow to be filled. And 
even the line we propose, cuts off about 30 acres belonging to 
the State, lying below the line either of low water or of the 
shore owners. We have adopted this line, not that we desired 
to reduce the capacity of the harbor, but to avoid the sinuosities 
of the shore and water lines, and to present a straight and uni¬ 
form front. And, besides, if the flats below the proposed line 
should be excavated, and any portion of them be converted into 
wet docks, the space between this line and that of the riparian 
owners, would allow the flow of the tide, and secure to them 
their water rights, and so avoid all difficulty on that score,— 
which we regard as a point of great importance. Or, if the 
State should allow the abuttors to fill down to this line, it 
should be done only in consideration of their relinquishing their 
water rights, or of rendering some equivalent, by excavation or 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


37 


otherwise. The line we have designated is to commence on the 
easterly side of Fore Point Channel, on the line which has been 
established by law; but if it shall be found, on judicial investi¬ 
gation, that the Boston Wharf Company may lawfully extend 
their wharf across the line we have laid down, then the line 
proposed shall commence on the easterly side of said wharf, 
and pursue the course before designated. 

The portion of flats we would thus set apart for harbor ac¬ 
commodations, may be excavated so as to allow vessels of 
almost any size to approach the wharves on Fore Point Chan¬ 
nel, and on the whole marginal line in front of South Boston. 
This would add vastly to the business capacity of the city and 
harbor. Or, the space thus set apart may, from time to time, 
as the wants of commerce may demand, be appropriated to wet 
docks, where the largest vessels may be accommodated. The 
subject of wet docks has attracted the attention of the commer¬ 
cial world for a long period, and their utility has been fully 
established, especially in all harbors where there is a large rise 
and fall of the tide, and where the currents are rapid. Without 
wet docks, London and Liverpool would suffer severely. The 
first wet dock in Great Britain was constructed at Liverpool, in 
pursuance of an act of Parliament obtained in 1708. At this 
period Liverpool was but an inconsiderable town, and the ac¬ 
commodations she has derived from her wet docks, have con¬ 
tributed more than any other cause to the rapid increase of her 
commerce, population, and wealth. A second dock was opened 
about the middle of the last century, and since that period many 
others have been added,—some of them on a very magnificent 
scale, and furnished with all sorts of conveniences. The wet 
docks of Liverpool, now completed, contain a water area of 
about 200 acres; and the Birkenhead docks, now nearly com¬ 
pleted, will greatly increase the amount of dockage in that 
growing city. The wet docks at London were not commenced 
so early, owing probably to the fact that all the land had been 
appropriated, and could not be obtained for this purpose, except 
at an enormous expense. The increasing demand for wet docks, 
and the success of the undertaking at Liverpool, compelled 
London to adopt the system ; and she has now more than 200 
acres of water area enclosed within her various docks. These 
were all constructed by companies, and have cost the corpora- 


38 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


tions the vast sum of $49,000,000. But notwithstanding this 
immense outlay, these docks have generallly been profitable as 
investments, having in some cases yielded an annual interest of 
ten per cent. And though some of them have been much less 
productive, as a whole they are now yielding five or six per 
cent, a year. The importance with which this system was re¬ 
garded in London, may be seen by the fact, that the London 
Dock Company, in order to carry out their plan, were compelled 
to purchase a considerable portion of seven parishes, and to 
take down one thousand three hundred houses. 

New York has also adopted the system, and has enclosed 
within the “ Atlantic Docks ” about forty acres of water; and 
an effort is now being made to erect a sea wall in the Hudson, 
parallel to the shore, and at a sufficient distance from it, to allow 
docks to be constructed between the wall and the shore, suffi¬ 
cient to accommodate a vast amount of shipping. While such 
efforts have been made and are still being made, in other com¬ 
mercial cities, it becomes the city of Boston to do something to se¬ 
cure her portion of trade; and especially should the movements 
in New York induce the people of Massachusetts to take active 
measures to build up our own commercial capital. 

The flats in the harbor of Boston seem admirably adapted to 
the purpose of wet docks. In the first place, they are situated 
near the centre of business, which cannot be said of the Atlan¬ 
tic Docks in New York. Nor is it necessary to destroy a large 
amount of valuable land covered with buildings, as was the 
case at Liverpool and London. With us, the flats, at present, 
are useless ; and, by converting them into wet docks, a large 
amount of land will be created, suitable for warehouses. Such 
docks would answer the double purpose of land and water,—giv¬ 
ing an additional amount of wharf-room and storehouses, and 
at the same time affording the largest accommodation for the 
shipping in the harbor. Besides, that portion of the harbor is 
somewhat exposed to easterly winds, and the sea wall enclosing 
the docks would act as a breakwater, and so protect, not only 
the ships in the docks, but those in the upper portion of Fore 
Point Channel. Nor would the advantages be confined to the 
harbor. By excavating the flats in front of Fore Point Chan¬ 
nel, all that portion of the city from India wharf to Summer 
Street wharf, would be brought directly to deep water, and the 



39 


1850.] SENATE—No. 3. 

value of property in that part of the city would be greatly in¬ 
creased. 

Another advantage resulting from some such improvement in 
this part of the harbor is this :—it would open a more direct 
communication between our railroads and deep water. The 
Lowell, Fitchburg, Maine, and Eastern railroads enter the 
northern part of the city, and can find deep water in that region 
of Boston or Charlestown, or, by the Grand Junction Railroad, 
at East Boston. But the Old Colony, Worcester, and Provi¬ 
dence roads enter the city in the southerly section, and hence 
would be accommodated by a connection with deep water on 
Fore Point Channel. The prospective growth of our inland 
trade, makes it highly important that improvements be made in 
every part of the harbor, which will facilitate that valuable part 
of our trade. 

The importance of some improvement of these flats will at 
once appear, when we consider that fifty years hence our com¬ 
merce will be seven or eight times as large as it is at present, and 
that our shipping will have increased in the same proportion. 
Besides, the warehousing system, which will, in all probability, 
become the established policy of the country, will not only 
make Boston a port of great importance, but will require a 
large amount of warehouse accommodation. The ranges of 
warehouses on the margins, and between the docks, would be 
admirably calculated for such purposes: goods entered for ex¬ 
portation could be taken directly from the vessel to the ware¬ 
house, and when sent abroad, could be put directly on board 
the vessel, with the least possible trouble to the importer. The 
government are now paying enormous rents, ($48,600 a year,) 
for warehouses, and with the increase of business, other ware¬ 
houses must be rented. This of itself holds out a strong in¬ 
ducement to enterprising individuals to embark in some such 
project. 

But if it be thought that the wet dock system would be too 
expensive, a sea wall of a cheaper character might be con¬ 
structed, enclosing certain portions of the flats, which, being 
excavated, would furnish a basin for the protection of shipping, 
which would answer many of the purposes of a wet dock. 
But whatever system may be adopted, great care should be 
taken to preserve, as far as possible, the capacity of the harbor. 




A Jr 


40 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


We have requested Mr. Parrott to lay down upon the map, a 
general outline of two wet docks, which contain a water area 
of about fifty-six acres, and would be sufficient to accommodate 
several hundred vessels,—affording at the same time the most 
ample room for wharfage and warehouses. Our object being 
only to present the general outline, we furnish no detailed plans 
of the construction. That is a matter to be decided upon when 
the general policy shall have been adopted. It will, however, 
be seen by the outline drawn upon the plan, that a space of 
seventy feet in width, in the centre of the embankment around 
and between the docks, is set apart for warehouses, with a 
space of ninety feet in width on each side, or between these 
ranges of warehouses and the water, for a street and for other 
business purposes,—which will be amply sufficient to accom¬ 
modate the public. The space east of the two docks designa¬ 
ted may be kept open for the anchorage of small vessels, for 
which it is well adapted; or if the commercial wants of the 
city should require, two additional docks could easily be con¬ 
structed on this portion of the flats. By a general system of 
this character, the business capacity of the harbor could be 
greatly increased, and the commercial growth of the city be 
facilitated. 

Nor do we, in these recommendations, abandon any of the 
views we have expressed in other parts of this Report. We 
have expressed our fears that the filling up of South Bay would 
ultimately prove ruinous to Fore Point Channel ; and that a 
sea wall upon the eastern margin of the channel would tend to 
hasten that event. But the erection of wet docks bordering 
upon that channel, is not liable to the same objections which could 
be urged against the proposed sea wall. In the first place, we 
do not propose to have these embankments for wet docks extend 
down so far upon the channel, by several hundred feet, as the 
proposed wall. We have also, spoken of wet docks only in 
connection with the excavation of the flats, and, if need be, the 
deepening of Fore Point Channel. Nor have we recommended 
any such improvement, until the business of the city should be 
such as to justify the undertaking :—and when the commerce of 
the city demands such works, it will so increase the business and 
the wealth of this portion of the city, that they could well 
afford to keep Fore Point Channel open by dredging. The dif- 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


41 


ference between the plan we recommend, and that of a sea wall, 
is this:—the proposed docks would not extend so far as the 
proposed wall, and of course would not cut off so much water 
from the channel. The docks would bring more business to this 
part of the city than the sea wall, and hence would create 
more property there, to keep the channel open, in case it 
should be inclined to fill. There is also, this important differ¬ 
ence in the two cases:—the contemplated improvement con¬ 
nected with the sea wall, would consist in converting the flats 
beyond it into dry land,—while the improvement connected 
with wet docks, would consist in converting these flats into deep 
water. If the former plan should ruin Fore Point Channel, it 
would give no accommodation to the shipping, as a substitute 
for that channel: but if the latter plan should ruin the chan¬ 
nel, it would afford other and better accommodations for the 
shipping than they now enjoy. 

But whatever plan should be adopted, great care should be 
taken lest private interest should carry such improvements too 
far forward towards the main ship channel, in the hope of ob¬ 
taining all the flats in the rear. Efforts will also be made to 
obtain a bridge across Fore Point Channel, and an avenue across 
the flats to South Boston, for the ostensible purpose of opening 
a direct communication between South Boston and the heart of 
the city; but the Legislature should look well to all such enter¬ 
prises, and, before they make any such grant, be sure that pub¬ 
lic good rather than private interest, demands it. Whenever 
the amount of travel shall demand another avenue between 
Boston and South Boston, the flats will be wanted for commer¬ 
cial purposes: and when they shall have been excavated from 
Fore Point Channel to the main ship channel, the business on 
Fore Point Channel will be too great to be interrupted by a 
bridge, at any point below Emory’s wharf, which is nearly in 
a straight line from the centre of Boston to the centre of South 
Boston. This would also fall directly upon the proposed street, 
in the rear of the wet docks as shown by the plan of said docks, 
drawn by Mr. Parrott, which plan and Report are herewith 
submitted. 

The commissioners would also call the attention of the 
Legislature to a line which has been recommended by former 
boards which have reported upon the subject, but on which 
6 


42 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


the Legislature have taken no action. The line is drawn 
upon the plan of the harbor, and commences at Wales’ 
wharf, and terminates at Fort Hill wharf. This line would 
straighten Fore Point Channel, and the quantity cut off would 
be so small as to produce no appreciable effect upon the harbor. 
On the contrary, we believe, that if this line were adopted, and 
the wharf owners were permitted to extend their wharves to 
this line, and were required, as a consideration, to remove the 
bar in front of Summer street wharf, and to excavate the flats 
in front of this line, up to the commissioners’ line on the other 
side of the channel, the harbor would be improved, rather than 
injured. We recommend the adoption of this line, on such con¬ 
ditions as the Legislature, in their wisdom, may think meet. 

There is another considerable portion of flats in Mystic River, 
between Malden and Chelsea bridges, a grant of which has 
been asked by the citizens of Charlestown. This tract contains 
about one hundred acres. These flats not only belong to the 
Commonwealth, but their title is embarrassed by no water 
rights of the riparian owners. By the law of 1641, no propri¬ 
etor was allowed to cross any creek or channel; and, as there is 
a channel on each side of the river, and these flats are sit¬ 
uated between the channels, they cannot legally be claimed by 
the shore owners, on either side of the river. The commission¬ 
ers are inclined to the opinion, that these flats might be filled, 
and the navigation of the river thereby improved. They were, 
however, inclined to believe, that the plan proposed, extended 
too far below Chelsea Bridge into the channel. And they had 
some apprehension, that confining the flow of the water to the 
Chelsea shore, might produce an eddy, and cause a deposit on 
the flats near the navy yard, to the injury of that establish¬ 
ment, and of navigation in that part of the harbor. But if the 
Legislature, in their wisdom, should see fit to make this grant 
for sufficient consideration, they should provide that the mate¬ 
rial to fill the flats to the height of extreme high water, should 
be taken from the marshes above, between high and low water 
marks, so that the river should be capable of receiving and dis¬ 
charging as large a quantity of tide water as at present. The 
materials should be taken under the direction of some skilful 
person, appointed by the government, who should see that it be 
taken, not only between high and low water, but at such points, 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


43 


and in such a manner, as to improve the navigation of the riv¬ 
er; and that the parts excavated, be so situated as not to be 
liable to fill up with sediment. The company should also be 
required to excavate the flats below their embankment to the 
channel, and to keep the flats, the channel of the river, and 
the marshes so excavated, open to a given depth. These pre¬ 
cautions appear to the commissioners to be indispensably ne¬ 
cessary to the safety of the harbor, and the Legislature would 
be false to the trust reposed in them, to make a grant without 
securing the performance of these, or similar duties, in the most 
ample manner. 

The attention of the commissioners was also called to that 
portion of the flats lying within the Mill Dam, west of Boston 
Neck, called u Back Bay.” 

In the year 1814, a charter was granted to the Boston and 
Roxbury Mill Corporation, with very extensive powers; among 
which, were authority to build a dam from Charles street, at 
the westerly end of Beacon street, in Boston, to the upland at 
Sewall’s Point, so called, in Brookline. 

Also, to build a dam from Boston to South Boston, not north¬ 
erly or easterly of South Boston Bridge. The last named dam 
not having been built within a term limited by a subsequent 
statute, the power is extinct. 

The dam first named having been constructed, the water of/ 
the basin formed by it, no longer flows and reflows with thei 
tide in its natural course, and is not deemed to be of any con-j 
siderable value in the scouring process. \ 

The purpose for which the power was granted to said com-’ 
pany, and to the Boston Water Power Company, incorporated 
in 1824, in whom the interest within the Basin is now vested, 
was, to create a reservoir of the tide waters for hydraulic 
uses. 

The power granted to these companies, has vested in them no 
title to land in fee, but only an easement to flow the same for 
the uses and purposes therein named. Applications have been, 
by said companies, made from time to time, for further legisla¬ 
tive grants, and among the subsequent acts passed in their fa¬ 
vor, was one in 1823, entitled “an Act to authorize the Boston 
and Roxbury Mill Corporation, to widen their dam” by extend¬ 
ing it one hundred feet on the northerly side thereof, upon the 



/ 


44 


PLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 




flats and tide waters, where it can be done without interfering 
with the rights of individuals , or other corporations , for the pur¬ 
pose of forming landing places, making wharves, erecting 
storehouses, and other necessary buildings. 

A subsequent Act, of 1824, extended this right of filling flats 
and tide waters, to two hundred feet, “ and to erect sheds and 
bindings thereon, for the accommodation of travellers and oth¬ 
ers. .” By these grants, a considerable quantity, (estimated at 
over thirty acres,) of land, north of the Mill Dam, may be filled 
to the exclusion of the tide waters. The limitations in the use, 
raise a question of some ambiguity, what is meant by u other 
necessary buildings and what accommodation for “ travellers 
and others,” is intended; and whether the “ sheds and build¬ 
ings,” may not be hotels for 11 travellers,” and palaces for 
“ others.” When, however, the space is once filled, the effect 
on the tide waters is not ambiguous; and there is little doubt 
but that the result will be, in process of time, the creation of so 
much land of a very valuable character, outside of the basins, 
for all purposes. 

The basins, called full and empty basins, above the principal 
dam, contain a tract of about eight hundred acres, including 
portions now occupied by the Providence and Boston, and the 
Boston and Worcester Railroad Corporations, which have been 
authorized from time to time to make locations over it, and 
portions that have been filled and converted into dry land. 

The use of the water as a hydraulic power, has proved less 
beneficial to the public, and to the enterprising projectors, than 
was anticipated; and it is probable that they will look for their 
ultimate profit, to the use of the territory as land, if permitted 
to do so by the Legislature. 

The creation of such a power for hydraulic use, was doubt¬ 
less deemed an object of public utility and importance, as well 
as the public highway and avenue into Boston, contemplated 
by the charter; and to effect these objects, very liberal grants 
were made. They were authorized to debar the tides from an 
area of eight hundred acres in their regular flow, and to close 

Fore Point Channel, and convert the whole South Bay into a 
mill pond. 

With the views now entertained of the importance of the tide 
waters in the preservation of the harbor for commerce, such a 


\ 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


45 


grant would not be made : and it is fortunate that those powers 
were exercised only in part. 

The existence of the dam, as now made, has, however, cut 
off the flats and tides in the basins from their natural use. and 
action. They are lost for every valuable purpose to the harbor, 
and may be filled and made into dry land, without public inju¬ 
ry,—and in that use, their value is very great. The Water 
Power Company have already availed themselves of powers 
derived from riparian proprietorship to fill considerable tracts,— 
to the extinction, to that extent, of the water power. They have 
also, by contract or compromise, permitted the reservoir to be 
abridged to a large extent, by the city of Boston, who seem 
never to have hesitated to give precedence to the proprietary 
right of making land for sale, over the commercial value of 
flats and tide waters to the harbor. The fillings are believed 
not to have always stopped at the riparian proprietary limit of 
low water mark, or one hundred rods from the shore. 

It is for the State to determine whether, if this basin is to be 
diverted from its use as a hydraulic power, the State title, which 
exists to its full extent, subject only to that use, shall be neg¬ 
lected, and given up to individual and corporate proprietors, 
without any consideration,—or for what consideration. 

Besides the Boston Water Power Company, the city of Rox- 
bury and one individual appeared before the commissioners, to 
assert proprietorship in a large portion of the land enclosed in 
the empty basin; and their claims, as made by them, are here¬ 
to annexed, marked K and L. 

But they failed to satisfy the commissioners, that they have, 
title to any land below the proprietary line of 1641. But while 
they have no hesitation, in the opinion here expressed, they are 
aware that some of the questions raised by the claimants, be¬ 
long exclusively to the judicial tribunals; and they, therefoie, 
only feel warranted by the duties with which they are charged, 
to call the attention of the Legislature to the charactei of the 
rights there existing. 

If they are deemed important to the State, the most proper 
course seems to be, that a commission be appointed, or that the 
law office of the Commonwealth be required to make the ne¬ 
cessary investigations, and to propose such action on the part 
of the State as shall protect its just rights. 




46 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


If the grantees of the water privilege continue their present 
use, the State has no election. Their faith is pledged, and will 
not be violated. In such case nothing can be done by the State, 
but to set up suitable landmarks, to preserve evidence of the 
original shore marks, and prevent gradual and unauthorized 
encroachments. 

But if, as the commissioners believe to be the fact, the time 
has already come, when the value of the land is far greater 
than the easement of the water right, and the grantees of the 
latter, desire to change their interest in them, to a considerable 
extent, a proper settlement would seem to require a compromise, 
on equitable terms, between the State and the Water Power 
Company, and any other parties who may be found to have 
rights there, with a view to the most profitable development of 
that valuable property. 

In conclusion, the commissioners would respectfully recom¬ 
mend to the Legislature, to retain in their own hands, all such 
portions of these flats as are not imperiously demanded by the 
present wants of the community. Let not the plea that the flats 
are wanted for building purposes, or that the harbor is ample to 
meet the present and future wants of commerce, induce the 
Legislature to grant to individuals or corporations what, at no 
distant day, must be required by the public for the accommoda¬ 
tion of trade. Nor would it, in our judgment, be wise to sur¬ 
render these flats, or the guardianship of them, to the city of 
Boston, or any other city or town in which they are located. 
It has been recommended by one commission, to surrender 
them to the city of Boston,—which, it is said, having the 
most direct interest, would appropriate them in the wisest 
manner for the interest of commerce. But we should fear that 
the interest of Boston would be too direct for a wise disposition 
of this property. The policy which this city is now pursuing, 
in filling up South Bay, after every board of commissioners has 
reported that such a course would be ruinous to certain portions 
of the harbor, leads to the apprehension, that she might not 
prove the best guardian of the commercial interests of the State. 

If these flats were granted to any of these cities, to be ap¬ 
propriated for the public good, there would be great danger that 
local considerations would control the manner of their disposal. 
The question of their disposition would soon become a matter 



1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


47 


of party contest, and there would be danger that present interest 
would prevail over public considerations, and that grants of an 
impolitic character would be made. Grants, looking more to 
immediate income, than to future growth,—more to private 
than to public considerations,—more to local advantage, than 
to the general welfare. 

These flats being the property of the whole people,—and the 
members of the Legislature coming from all parts of the Com¬ 
monwealth, and knowing the wishes of their constituents,—we 
know of no body so well qualified to exercise a wise guardian¬ 
ship over this great interest as the General Court. The property 
is in their hands; and there we may safely trust it; knowing 
that in them, we have a tribunal as independent and impartial 
as the lot of humanity will admit. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

' JOHN M. WILLIAMS, 

DAVID CUMMINGS, 
THOMAS HOPKINSON, 
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, 
CHARLES HUDSON. 


48 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


The commissioners append the following documents relating 
to the subjects of their inquiries, for the consideration of the 
Legislature, viz. :— 

1. A statement of the imports and exports of the city of 
Boston during the years, from 1830 to 1849, inclusive, marked A. 

2. A statement of the arrivals and clearances at the port of 
Boston during the years, from 1830 to 1849, inclusive, marked 
B. 

3. Report and plan of soundings, &c. on South Boston Flats, 
by W. W. Parrott, marked C. 

4. Report and plan of wet docks, &c., by W. W. Parrott, 
each marked D. 

5. A statement of Samuel S. Lewis* marked E. 

/ 

6. A statement of Winslow Lewis, marked F. 

7. A statement of Thomas Lamb, marked G. 

8. A statement of Z. Jellison, marked H. 

9. A statement of the supposed title of the city of Roxbury, 
to land in the Back Bay, marked I. 

10. A statement of the supposed title of David Sears, to land 
in the Back Bay, marked K. 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


49 


A. 


Imports of Foreign Merchandise in American and Foreig?i 
Vessels , in the Port of Boston , from the of January , 1830. 
to the 31 st of December , 1849, inclusive . 


Year of 

1830, 

1831, 

1832, 

1833, 

1834, 

1835, 

1836, 

1837, 

1838, 

1839, 

1840, 

1841, 

1842, 

1843, 

1844, 

1845, 

1846, 

1847, 

1848, 

1849, 


$ 8,348,653 
13,414,309 
15,760,512 

17.853.446 
15,614,720 
19,038,480 
25,897,955 
15,027,842 
13,468,465 
18,409,186 
14,122,308 
18,908,242 

16.127.447 
20,662,567 
22,141,788 
21,591,877 
21,284,800 
38,279,651 
23,388,475 
24,117,175 


$383,457,898 


7 









50 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


Exports of Domestic and Foreign Goods , in American and 
Foreign Vessels , from the Port of Boston , from the of 
January , 1830, to the 31s£ of December , 1849, inclusive. 


Year of 

Domestic goods. 

Foreign goods. 

Total. 

1830, 

2,488,901 

2,691,277 

5,180,178 

1831, 

2,820,953 

3,076,129 

5,697,082 

1832, 

3,438,021 

6,569,797 

10,007,818 

1833, 

3,509,379 

4,552,846 

8,062,225 

1834, 

3,705,071 

4,029,924 

7,734,995 

1835, 

4,774,732 

3,981,960 

8,756,692 

1836, 

3,812,578 

4,869,863 

8,682,441 

1837, 

4,244,509 

3,591,761 

7,836,270 

1838, 

4,440,891 

2,595,991 

7,036,882 

1839, 

4,507,816 

3,505,720 

8,013,536 

1840, 

. , . 5,146,779 

3,268,535 

8,415,314 

1841, 

5,892,672 

3,479,940 

9,372,612 

1842, 

4,750,851 

2,475,233 

7,226,084 

1843, 

5,081,744 

2,283,968 

7,365,712 

1844, 

5,843,231 

2,451,495 

8,294,726 

1845, 

6,136,273 

2,634,580 

8.770,853 

1846, 

6,481,802 

1,764,022 

8,245,824 

1847, 

8,760,954 

3,357,643 

12,118,597 

1848, 

7,546,472 

2,455,347 

10,001,819 

1849, 

6,780,329 

2,063,645 

.8,843,974 


100,163,958 

65,699,676 

165,863,634 









1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


51 


B. 

Statement of Foreign and Coastwise Arrivals and Clearances 
at the Port of Boston, from January Is/, 1830, to December 
31s/, 1849, inclusive. 



ARRIVALS. 

CLEARANCES. 


Year. 






Foreign. 

Coastwise. 

1 

Foreign. 

Coastwise. 



1830, 

642 

2938 

567 

2216 


1831, 

766 

2946 

684 

2298 


1832, 

1064 

3538 

943 

2611 


1833, 

1066 

4024 

939 

2848 


1834, 

1156 

3527 

1002 

2477 


1835, 

1302 

3879 

1225 

2900 


1836, 

1452 

4844 

1326 

2927 


1837, 

1591 

4000 

1381 

2506 

There are a large number 




of vessels employed in 

1838, 

1313 

4018 

. 1124 

2901 

the coasting trade, which 
neither enter or clear at 

1839, 

1553 

4251 

1381 

2803 

the Custom-house. The 
disparity between the ar- 

1840, 

1628 

4406 

1362 

2815 

rivals and clearances is 
owing to this fact. The 

1841, 

1791 

4574 

1581 

2841 

number can confidently 
be stated at 4000 each 

1842, 

1738 

3862 

1540 

2379 

way, yearly. 

1843, 

1716 

4974 

1628 

2484 


1844, 

2174 

5909 

2000 

5009 


1845, 

2305 

5631 

2200 

3058 


1846, 

2000 

6732 

1998 

2712 


1847, 

2756 

7125 

2526 

3198 


1848, 

3012 

6002 

2857 

3239 


1849, 

3111 

6156 

3040 

3112* 



* The difference between the arrivals and clearances, arises from the fact, that very many 
of our coasters enter, but do not clear at the Custom-house. 




































52 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


c. 

To the Hon. J. M. Williams , Chairman of the Commissioners 

on Boston Harbor. 

Sir, —At the request of Messrs. Hudson and Bout well, I have 
examined the point of flats at South Boston, for the purpose of 
ascertaining if any ledge existed beneath the surface of earth, 
or other hindrance to excavation to the depth of twelve feet, at 
low water, and respectfully submit the following report:— 

The part indicated by the gentlemen, as being the portion 
to be examined, is the triangular part included between the red 
line, marked on the plan I-XVIII., and the point of the 
channel. It was my intention to have sounded the whole of 
this portion in squares of two hundred feet, and the work was 
commenced with that view, but the weather was so severe and 
unfavorable, that we were obliged to take another course. On 
examination, we found slate ledge at the corner of F. and Third 
Streets, and in another place, near Monk’s Timber Dock. As¬ 
suming that this is the same stratum, the line marked I-XVIII. 
will cross its direction nearly at right angles, and if it extended 
to the point of the flats within twelve feet of low water, we 
should strike it upon this line. 

This cross section was carefully sounded, but we found no 
ledge or indications of any, at the depths we were able to reach 
with the sounding rods. In a few places, we found hard gravel, 
and could not sound so deep as we wished, but in the other 
parts we got to a sufficient depth,'to show that the ledge, if any, 
lays more than twelve feet below the present surface. 

Two lines at right angles with this base line, were sounded 
with like result, and having found no rock, I concluded to sound 
a line in shore, the base line, and directly across the a slate 
ledges,” in order to judge of their extent and dip. The re¬ 
sults of this examination are shown on the profile, marked c. d. 

In addition to these lines, several soundings were taken at in¬ 
dependent points with the same result. 

In no case did we find rock out side of the line I-XVIII., 
and but once on the line c. d., and that was in the imme¬ 
diate vicinity of the small ledges near Monk’s Dock. 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


53 


The general character of the ground is a stratum of mud, or 
hard pan, from three to seven feet deep, over a bed of blue clay. 
Generally towards the parts covered at low water, the mud is 
found, on the parts bare at low water, the hard pan and gravel. 
The stratum of clay is much softer and sticking upon the west 
side, and harder upon the eastern side, but is not so hard as to 
offer any obstruction to excavation if desired. 

In making inquiries, I heard of several vague rumors of bal¬ 
last lighters having been sunk on the edge of the channel, and 
that some vessels carrying stone, had grounded on the flats, and 
thrown over their deck load, which was suffered to remain; but 
I was unable to ascertain the position of their deposits. 

It is probable that some slight obstructions of this kind may 
be found in making the excavation. 

I regret that the season was so far advanced, that we could 
not make so minute an examination as was first intended, but 
I think sufficient evidence has been obtained, to show that no 
slate ledge or other notable obstruction to excavation, exists in 
any part of the flats, embraced in this examination, within twelve 
feet of low water. 

Upon the harbor commissioners’ plan of 1847, there is a ledge 
marked near “Slate Ledge Wharf.” Mr. Tewksbury, the 
harbor master, has kindly examined this for me, and found some 
slate and granite. He thinks it a bar and not a ledge. It is 
probably the remains of some small island, or some deposit of 
ballast, as the slate ledges at South Boston, with their apparent 
dip and direction, could not show themselves there. 

I have made some inquiries, for the purpose of making an 
approximate estimate of the cost of this work, and find that the 
usual rates are two dollars and fifty cents ($2,50) per square, 
of eight yards, which would make not far from thirty cents per 
cubic yard : but to cover contingencies, thirty-seven and a half 
cents per yard, I think, would be an ample price. The area of 
the triangle before described, will be four hundred and eighty 
thousand square yards, which, excavated to the depth of four 
yards, will give an aggregate of about two millions of yards, and, 
at the price above mentioned, an aggregate cost of seven hun¬ 
dred and fifty thousand dollars. 

The cost of filling in, the past season, paid by the city for their 
work near Cambridge street, (the New Jail,) has been two dol- 


54 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


lars and fifty cents per square, or thirty cents per yard,—on the 
south end lands, twenty-eight cents per yard for gravel, hauled 
by railroad from the country. It will be safe to assume, that if 
the area within the line of one hundred rods, marked upon the 
plan, should be filled up, it would cost, at least thirty cents per 
cubic yard for earth filling. 

I return herewith, as making part of this report, the field 
notes taken, and a plan, made from the commissioners' plan of 
1847, with the direction and length of each line marked upon it, 
with the corresponding profiles reduced to the common plain of 
reference, the coping of the Dry Dock at Charlestown. 

Your obedient servant,. 

WILLIAM P. PARROTT, Engineer. 

Boston, December 14 th, 1S49. 


D. 

« 1 

To the Honorable J. M. Williams, Chairman of the Commis¬ 
sioners on Boston Harbor. 

Sir, —At the request of the Hon. Mr. Hudson, I have prepared 
a sketch of the proposed docks at South Boston. 

The brief period of time allowed me would not suffice to go 
into any details, or even allow of a mature and thorough inves¬ 
tigation. I have, therefore, made merely a sketch, including, as 
far as I was able, those general principles, which appear to me 
should govern any system, which may be proposod for making 
this part of Boston Harbor available for commercial purposes. 

The first, is a proper shelter for vessels laying at the wharves 
in this part of the city, either for loading or unloading, or in 
ordinary. The need of such shelter arises from the power of 
the wind and sea, from the direction of E. N. E. to S. E., and 
which is too great, either for the convenience or the safety of ves¬ 
sels. This can be accomplished only by a wall or breakwater, 
at a suitable distance from the wharves. 

The second principle is, to afford as large a space as practica¬ 
ble (having a proper view to other interests, and the increasing 



1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


55 


amount of shipping,) for the accommodation of vessels, either 
coming for a harbor, or for discharging or taking in cargo. 

And the third is, to make at the same time, in connection 
with the work, as large a space for warehouses and wharves, 
as may be considered advisable. This is in order to afford 
space for the the cargoes for the vessels, and to diminish the 
cost of preparing the basins. 

All these principles may be combined with great advantage, 
both to the interests of the ship owner, to the merchant, and to 
the public at large. 

The sketch I propose, is as follows To build on the lines 
marked upon the plan, a double wall ;•—the foundation to be 
nine to twelve feet below low water ;—the walls to be two hun¬ 
dred feet apart, and to be filled with the earth inside of the ba¬ 
sins formed by these walls, which are to be excavated to nine 
feet below low water at the walls, and twelve feet below, in the 
middle of the basins. Access to the basins or docks, will be by 
entrances as marked on the sketch,—one hundred feet wide each. 

This arrangement will give two basins, containing about 
thirty acres each, and will accommodate easily, six hundred 
vessels of the class commonly engaged in the commerce of this 
port, besides lighters and other small vessels. 

The length of wharf line, eight thousand two hundred and 
thirty feet, or one and one half miles, nearly, and the width of 
two hundred and fifty feet, will afford ample accommodation 
for streets, warehouses and landing places. 

This system may be continued to any desirable extent, as 
shown by the dotted lines upon the plan. In making this ar¬ 
rangement, I have had in view the intention of constructing basins, 
in and out of which, the tide might flow at all times. Should it 
be considered better hereafter that wet docks should be substi¬ 
tuted in their place, it may be done without any alteration of 
the principles :—but this question, as well as the details, and 
cost of construction, cannot be settled while the whole project is 
in so indefinite a shape. But thinking that the following mem¬ 
oranda may be some assistance to the better understanding of 
the whole matter, I have annexed them to this report. They 
have chiefly been taken from the large volume of the Public 
Works of Great Britain, published by Neale, in 1838, London, 
McCullogh’s Commercial Dictionary, Knights’ London, and 
Talford’s Works. 


56 FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. [Jan. 

The data, I had immediately at my disposal, related more to 
the details of form and construction than to the cost. 

The first inclosed dock, at Liverpool, was built A. D. 1702. 
The first at London, 1S00. 

The amount of capital stock of some of the London docks is 
as follows :— 

West India Docks, original stock, £500,000, afterwards in¬ 
creased to £1,200,000. 

East India Docks, £623,000. 

London Docks, £3,238,000, with an additional sum of 
£700,000, borrowed. Total, £3,938,000. 

St. Catherine’s, £1,352,800, afterwards increased by loan of 
£800,000. Total, £2,152,800. 

London Docks. The amount paid for land and damages, can¬ 
not be ascertained, but was very large. £700,000 was bor¬ 
rowed for this purpose alone, and a large part of the capital of 
more than £3,000,000 was used for this purpose. 

The Size and Capacity, and Distance from Centre of Bu¬ 
siness. West India Docks, whole capacity, two hundred and 
ninety-five acres. Water, fifty-five acres:—will accommodate 
six hundred vessels, from two hundred and fifty to five hundred 
tons, and is three and one half miles from the centre of busi¬ 
ness. 

East India Docks. Whole area of water, about thirty acres, 
three of which are for the entrance dock : will accommodate 
about three hundred vessels, of the class above named : is four 
and one quarter miles from the centre of business. 

London Docks. Whole area, seventy-one and three quarter 
acres : area of water twenty-eight acres, will accommodote two 
hundred and eighty vessels, of the same class : is one and two 
thirds miles from the centre of business. 

St. Catherine’s. Whole area, twenty-four acres, eleven of 
which are covered by water, will accommodate about three 
hundred vessels, of the class before mentioned, and is about one 
mile from the centre of business. 

Commercial Docks. Whole area, forty-nine acres; water 
area, eighty-eight acres : will accommodate three hundred and 
eighty vessels, and is about two and one half miles from the 
centre of business. 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


57 


The rise of the spring tides is twenty-four feet six inches, 
neap tides, twenty-one feet eleven inches. 

The rise of the spring tides in Boston, is thirteen and one 
half feet, and neap tides six and one half feet. Mean rise and 
fall, ten feet. 


FORM OF THE DOCKS. 

St. Catherine’s is irregular in its form. Mr. Talford says in 
his report, that it was occasioned by the form of the site, but 
that it was considered as an advantage at last, as affording 
more quarry room. 

The London Docks, West and East India Docks, are all par¬ 
allelograms of different proportions. 

The Commercial are irregular, probably for the same reasons 
as St. Catherine’s. 

This is a matter, however, of small importance, and the form 
must necessarily conform to the site of the work and its uses. 

The cost of the London docks was much increased by the 
great price paid for land damages to adjacent estates, and qui¬ 
eting of vested rights, and it appeared to me worthy of notice, 
that it was nearly one hundred years after the first dock was 
built in Liverpool, that a similar work was commenced in Lon¬ 
don :—that, after the West India docks were built, it was evi¬ 
dent that it was expedient to incur this vast expenditure of 
money, to increase this accommodation to vessels trading to the 
Thames. 

It is probable that the cost of work of similar character here 
would bear no comparison with those above mentioned, both for 
the reasons before recited, as well as the mode of construction, 
which would be different, for the reasons that much work is put 
into the masonry of those docks for the purpose of ornament, 
and also, that the head of water held by the docks here, would 
be much less, and consequently require less thickness and 
strength in the walls. 

The average distance from the centre of business of the pro¬ 
posed docks, is about one mile, contrasting favorably in this re¬ 
spect, with the docks in other seaports. 

I cannot refrain from again expressing my regret, that I have 
not time to give this subject the examination and consideration 
it deserves, but hope that this sketch may be of assistance to 

8 


58 FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. [Jan. 

you, in directing the attention of the public to a matter of so 
much importance to the continued and increased prosperity of 
this city and the Commonwealth. 

Your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM P. PARROTT. 
Boston, December , 2 7th, 1849. 


E. 

STATEMENT OF SAMUEL S. LEWIS, ESQ. 

Boston Harbor is constituted of channels, through which the 
tide flows four times every twenty-four hours, into and out of 
Charles and Mystic Rivers, Chelsea Creek and South and Back 
Bays. This influx and reflux of the tide scours the channels. 
The immense volume of water constantly passing in and out 
of these reservoirs, is the only means of preserving the chan¬ 
nels and the harbor; cut them off or change the currents, and 
you may, and probably will, destroy the harbor. With all our 
precautions, we are not able to prevent the channels filling up 
and narrowing. My own experience shows this conclusively. 
In 1840, I excavated and dredged docks for the British steam¬ 
ships, and deepened the water outside of the docks, to a suffi¬ 
cient depth to enable the steamers to enter and depart from the 
docks at low water; since then I have been obliged, in order to 
maintain the depth of water necessary to keep afloat the steam¬ 
ers, to dredge out the docks and the entrance to them twice, the 
last time, the present season, I have excavated, and taken away 
seven hundred squares of mud, at a cost of over two thousand 
dollars. The East Boston Ferry Company, have also, been 
obliged to dredge out their slips, four times since the ferry was 
established, and the wharves in Boston proper, are continually 
going through the same process. 

These facts, to my mind, are conclusive, that the channels 
narrow, the sediment which is carried up and down with the 
tide, adheres to the sides of the channel, where the current has 
its greatest force, narrowing the same, and forming spits into 
the channels. More especially is this the operation, after the 
tide passes through the narrower part of the channel, and spreads 



1850.] 


SENATE No. 3. 


59 


itself into the broad part of the harbor. The velocity of the 
current is then lost , and the sediment carried with it settles. 
^ he effect of extending a wall any considerable length on the 
easterly side of Fore Point Channel would, in my opinion, be 
the means of injuring, if not eventually destroying the harbor, 
as it would form a canal, or narrow passage for the water to 
pass into and out of South Bay, increasing the velocity of the 
tide by forcing the water, which supplies that reservoir, through 
this narrow pass. The increased velocity of the tide would 
take down with it the sediment from the bay above, to a point 
nearly opposite India and Central Wharves, where it would 
meet the tide from Charles and Mystic Rivers and Chelsea 
Creek, causing eddies that would whirl the sediment collected 
from all these sources, into the broad part of the harbor, there 
losing the current, it would deposit directly across the chan¬ 
nel, filling up and forming spits in the main channel, above the 
upper middle, where at low water we have now only seventeen 
feet. Not enough for large steamers or ships to enter or depart, 
if my experience and views are correct, it is a dangerous expe¬ 
riment to allow a sea wall extended much on the easterly side of 
Fore Point Channel, certainly not farther than Kneeland street. 

The commerce of Boston is continually and rapidly increas¬ 
ing, and we shall soon require more, and enlarged harbor ac¬ 
commodations. The arrivals, foreign and domestic, are now 
fourteen to fifteen thousand annually, and this does not include 
a large amount of small craft, fishing vessels and others. The 
increase of our commerce up to the present time, has been al¬ 
most wholly in our importations, which the following table, for 
fifteen years, from 1832 to 1847, will show:— 

FOREIGN IMPORTS. 



Boston. 

New York. 

1832, 

$15,760,572 

$50,995,924 

1847, 

47,110,761 

96,036,257 

Increase, 

$31,350,189 

EXPORTS. 

$45,040,333 

1832, 

$10,107,762 

$22,792,593 

1847, 

10,513,132 

52,879,275 

Increase, 

$405,364 

$30,086,682 






60 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


It will be seen from the above, table that while our importa¬ 
tions have increased about two hundred per cent., our expor¬ 
tations have only increased during that period, $405,364, or 
about four per cent. This is explained by the fact, that we 
have as yet, nothing to export but debenture goods, domestic 
manufactures and ice. Soon, however, the case will be other¬ 
wise, and Boston will become a great export city. In the spring 
of 1851, our railroad system will be in full operation. We 
shall then have two thousand five hundred and thirty-seven 
miles of railroad, completed at a cost of more than $100,000,000, 
connecting this city by railroad and steam navigation, with 
thirteen States of the Union, comprising an area of four hun¬ 
dred and twenty-eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-five 
square miles, the two Canadas, the lakes, with their five thou¬ 
sand miles of coast, and the whole embracing a population of 
nine million one hundred and ninety-three thousand. The trans¬ 
portation of freight on these roads, taking the returns of Mas¬ 
sachusetts railroads as the basis for calculation, will be equal 
to six million tons annually, and when we consider the vast 
population to be accommodated by these lines of roads, and the 
immense business of the states through which they pass, the 
Canadas and the great west; it cannot be doubted that ere 
long, the capabilities of these roads will scarcely be found equal 
to the demands upon them. 

The eligibility of Boston as an export city, is shown by the 
following reliable statement of distances as compared with New 
York:— 



To Boston. 

To New 

From Liverpool via. Halifax, 

2,876 

3,093 

“ “ direct, 

2,856 

3,073 

“ Halifax, 

363 

580 

“ Montreal, 

344 

398 


The aggregate difference in favor of Boston, is seven hundred 
and Jive miles. The difference between Liverpool and Montreal, 
in favor of Boston over New York, is two hundred and seventy - 
one miles. 

The imports and exports of the lake harbors in 1848, was 
$170,293,401, and one of our citizens, Mr. Degrand, as¬ 
serts, that the business of the lake harbors is known to double 


1850.] 


SENATE No. 3. 


61 


every four years. The number of vessels on the lakes is be¬ 
tween nine hundred and one thousand, with a tonnage of one 
hundred and fifty-three thousund four hundred and twenty-six 
tons, valued at $7,868,000. 

The aggregate of exports from Canada West, in 1848, was 
$10,000,000, and Secretary Walker, in his report, says the ex¬ 
changes between Canada and the United States, under free 
trade regulations, would amount to $40,000,000, annually. 

The commerce of the Canadas, after our railroads are com¬ 
pleted, is doubtless to be carried on through the United States, 
under recent acts of Congress, designed for this purpose, allow¬ 
ing goods and merchandise in transitu, to pass through the coun¬ 
try free of duty. (The necessity for this is found, in the im¬ 
possibility of navigating the St. Lawrence, for more than six 
months in the year.) The advantages of Boston, in the compe¬ 
tition for this trade are so manifest, that their importance will 
be readily appreciated, and to avail herself of it, Boston must 
become an exporting city. Cargoes from Liverpool, in sailing 
vessels for the Canadas, may be delivered via. Boston, in thirty 
to thirty-five days, and twelve to fourteen days by steamships, 
and subject only to the freight on shipboard and railroad—and 
the productions of the Canadas and of the great west, may be 
shipped by the way of Boston at the same expense, and free 
from all charges of transhipment, &c. 

These advantages must make Boston a great shipping port. 
Consequently, she must avail herself of the advantages of her 
harbor , and the space occupied by these fiats will be required for 
anchorage ground. The true policy, and what the growth of 
the city will soon require to be done, is to excavate a large portion 
of the flats, and thus enlarge the capacity of the harbor. I 
have given you some facts and reasons why our harbor should 
not be contracted beyond the bounds of private rights, and the 
lines established. 

There have been no wharves extended into our harbor one 
hundred rods, unless it be the Long Wharf, and perhaps, Cen¬ 
tral. Long Wharf was allowed for a consideration, as a means 
of defence to the town in its infancy. The wharves at the 
South and North End, East Boston and Charlestown,—none of 
them extend that length, and generally not more than half the 

ength. 


62 FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. [Jan. 

I have shown you that private enterprise at the wharves in 
the city proper, and at East Boston, is obliged to excavate the 
fiats to deepen the water, at its own charge, and why should 
not South Boston proprietors be allowed the same privilege ? 

It may be said that another avenue is wanted to that section 
of the city. Already they have two avenues supported by the 
city, and if a third is required, it should never be permitted to 
be built over the flats northerly of Kneeland street. 

South Boston has been annexed to the city about forty-five 
years, and has now a population of about 12,500;—while East 
Boston dates her existence, as part of the city, from June 1835, 
—only about fourteen years,—and has now a population of 
10,000; and her only avenue or way of getting to the city is by 
her ferry, established and supported by a private corporation ; 
and she has no way of connecting with the interior or main 
land, excepting by roads and bridges, built and maintained at 
the expense of private corporations. And would it not be better 
for South Boston, also, to maintain a ferry, if more facilities for 
travel are required, than to grant the flats asked for, upon any 
doubtful experiment that may ruin our beautiful harbor? 

The area of the flats to be filled within the line extended to the 
northerly side of Kneeland street, as shown on the chart here¬ 
with submitted, is about 351 acres, equal to 15,289,560 square 
feet, and the average fill would be about twelve feet high ; to 
make this space into solild land, would require in time, seven¬ 
teen to twenty years. Twenty acres annually, would be the 
extent that could be made into land, using all the force that 
could be applied. For instance, the city have been already two 
years or more , filling up about sixty acres, of only about half 
the depth , easterly of Washington street, and it will take several 
more years to complete the work. It takes 387,300 cubic yards of 
earth to fill twenty acres. The whole quantity of flats within the 
“Cary ” line on the chart, is about 8S0 acres, and could not be 
made into land, at twenty acres per year, under forty-four 
years. The original contents of Boston proper was about 700 
acres; South Boston 600 acres, and East Boston 660 acres, in¬ 
cluding marsh lands. These comparisons will show the mag¬ 
nitude of the grant asked from the Legislature,—all that portion 
beyond a line one hundred rods from high water mark, belongs 
to the public domain , containing over 19,000,000 square feet,— 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


63 


and which the constantly increasing commerce of our city re¬ 
quires for harbor accommodations ; and these flats, if made into 
land, will materially decrease, rather than increase, wharf, as 
well as harbor accommodations, by greatly injuring the access 
to the south wharves. 

This vast quantity of land, if allowed to be filled up and used, 
must be divided into streets, and will become a city of itself; no 
part of which, but the seaboard, or northeasterly side, could 
be used for commercial purposes, and that would be very much 
exposed. The remainder must be subdivided into lots for dwell¬ 
ings, and other purposes, and as it would be made land and ex¬ 
posed to all the easterly storms, it could not be desirable loca¬ 
tions for genteel dwellings; none, therefore, but the poorest class 
of dwellings, and lowest order of population, would occupy it. 
The sewers and drains must be carried through, and under the 
streets, and emptied directly into the main channels, as well as 
all the flow from the surface of the streets,—and all this will be 
in addition to the sewers and flow of the streets from other parts 
of the city. There are, at this time, plenty of cheap lands for 
the city to extend upon, in South and East Boston, and in the 
Back Bay, between the Public Garden, the Mill Dam, and 
Washington street,—and these are the natural and proper direc¬ 
tions for the city to extend. 

In conclusion,—I have confined my remarks to general views, 
suggested by my own experience;—the weighty considerations 
touching the exigency and the powers of your commission, I leave 
to others. But perhaps I may be allowed here to say, that with 
much anxiety I have watched Boston harbor for many years, 
and it was at my instance and suggestion to the Mercantile Com¬ 
mittee of the Legislature, at the session of 1834-5, that caused 
the appointment of the first Board of Commissioners to fix lines 
for the preservation of the harbor. 

SAM’L. S. LEWIS, 

One of the Commisioners to procure a Survey of 

Boston Harbor , under the Resolve of 7th April , 1849. 


64 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


F. 

LETTER FROM WINSLOW LEWIS, ESQ. 

Boston , November 1st, 1849. 

Sir, —Ill health must apologise for my not complying with 
the request contained in your note of 19th October, at an earlier 
period. 

As near as my recollection serves me, the substance of my 
testimony given before the commissioners, was :—Has the chan¬ 
nel in Boston harbor become more shallow within my recollec¬ 
tion. If so, at what period, and the cause of it? 

I first went to sea from Boston, in 1783, and continued to sail 
from there until the war of 1812. During this period, I have 
no knowledge of any deviation of the depth of water in the 
channel, above what is called the lower middle ground. In 
1814, we had several vessels loaded with stone, anchored in the 
shoalest part of the channel, that is, between the upper middle 
ground and Governor’s Island, to be sunk in case of the ap¬ 
proach of an enemy. At that time there was twenty-one feet 
of water, at low water, where those vessels lay. There is now 
but seventeen feet. From 1803 to 1808, I commanded a Liver¬ 
pool packet, loaded at Liverpool wharf, where there was at 
that time fourteen feet at low water. Nine years ago there was 
but nine feet. From 1815 to 1842, the business I was engaged 
in gave me an opportunity of observing the progress of the water 
shallowing in the channel, particularly above Fort Independ¬ 
ence and Fore Point Channel. Great progress had been made 
in filling up the flats, and extending the wharves all around the 
city, East Boston, Charles and Mystic Rivers. To this I at¬ 
tribute the cause of the channel filling up below the city. The 
body of head water being diminished, it follows that there was so 
much less to pass up and down the channel;—by which the 
strength of the current which had kept the channel clear, was 
very much lessened. 

That there is much less water in the channel above Fort In¬ 
dependence than there was thirty years ago, I think must be 
admitted, and 1 give it as my opinon, that the cause of it is in 
filling up the flats and extending the wharves into the channel; 
and should we go on and turn all our flats into dry land, I think 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


65 


the time will arrive when the present city of Boston can only 
be approached by vessels drawing a very light draft of water. 

There is another view of the subject I takethe capacity of 
the channel round Boston is very limited, barely enough to ac¬ 
commodate the present shipping. What is to be done when that 
is increased threefold ? The only remedy must be, either in 
widening the channel by excavation, or building piers on the 
extensive flats for vessels to haul into, leaving the main chan¬ 
nel clear for shipping to pass up and down. The flats once 
filled up and made into dry land, there is no remedy. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 


Hon. J. M. Williams. 


WINSLOW LEWIS. 


G. 


STATEMENT OF THOMAS LAMB, ESQ. 

Boston , October 22. 1849. 

Sir, —In compliance with your request of the 20th instant, I 
will endeavor to relate the substance of my testimony before 
the commissioners the last year. 

The channels of our harbor are preserved, only by the contin¬ 
ued quantity of water passing through them, every rise and fall 
of the tide, and covering the flats as well as the channels, every 
full of the tide. The rise and fall of the tide water on the flats, 
is just as valuable for the purpose of the rapid movement of 
the currents through the channels, and in and out of the passage 
ways from the harbor to the bay, as the rise and fall of the 
tides in the channel ways. 

The pressure of water is always downwards, and the deeper 
the channels, if there is a side supply ,—the more rapid will be 
the current. This side supply, or quantity of water, has been 
very much reduced from the fillings up of the flats, basins and 
docks the past thirty years. 

Boston originally measured about one thousand acres, now it 
measures more than three thousand acres :—this two-thirds addi¬ 
tion to the upland of the city, has been made by these fillings up, 
and of course the same superficial measurement of the tide water 

9 



66 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR 


[Jan. 


has been shut out from entering and departing through the chan¬ 
nel ways of the harbor. This is not the only reduction :—to this 
must be added the vast quantity of water shut out by the Mill 
Dam, and all the fillings in, on the shores of our harbor opposite 
to the city proper, such as Charlestown, East Boston, South 
Boston, the Back Bay, &c. 6c c. 

The effects already apparent from these great reductions, 
in the quantity of water flowing into and out of the harbor, 
are the reductions in the depths of the channel ways, the 
change of the current in the Narrows, and the filling in of 
Fore Point Channel. 

The reduction in the depths of the channel ways are most 
apparent from Governor’s Island, down through the Narrows 
to the Bay. The Boston Marine Society, composed of mer¬ 
chants owning navigation, masters of ships and underwri¬ 
ters, have taken a great deal of interest in this subject, and 
have, at various times, examined persons competent to answer 
enquiries connected with it, and from these examinations, they 
have ascertained, that the reductions referred to, have been 
from two to five feet in depth, that is, that vessels cannot, at 
this time, float through those channels, with so much depth of 
water by five feet, as they could have floated through with 
thirty years since. 

The change in the current in the Narrows, has been noticed 
by our pilots and other navigators, for several years, and the 
report of our harbor master to the city government, the last 
year—most especially notices the fact, and recommends the adop¬ 
tion of some remedy, which that functionary thinks may pre¬ 
vent greater injury to that important passage-way for our large 
ships. This change has been produced from the reduction in 
the quantity of tide water, passing into the arm of the harbor, 
that is, properly Boston harbor; whereas, the quantity of tide 
water running into the other arm of the harbor, extending to 
the harbor of Ilingham and Quincy, has not been reduced. 

The tide waters from these two arms—divided by a line 
from Dorchester Point to Long Island Point—pass in between 
Point Alderton and Brewster Island Light-house, and between 
Brewster Island and Deer Island, [with the small quantity 
through Chelsea Gut] and these two supplies meet at the Nar¬ 
rows, and it is there that the supply coming through Broad 




1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


67 


Sound, owing to so much of it having been prevented by the 
reductions in Boston Harbor, from coming into that arm,—now 
forces the current through the Narrows, and between Gallop’s 
Island and George’s Island, into the other arm that runs into 
Hingham and Quincy harbors. 

Another effect from the reductions mentioned, is the reduced, 
velocity of the current in the channel from South Boston Bridge, 
to beyond Fore Point Channel. 

For many years that fore point of the flats opposite to India 
and Central Wharves, has been coming into and reducing the 
width and the depth of that channel, and there can be no doubt, 
should the Back Bay be filled up, and a few more wharves be 
made from South Boston, that the channel way from South 
Boston bridges along the whole line of valuable wharves, would 
rapidly fill up, quite to the north end of the city, where the ve¬ 
locity of the channel is aided by the waters from, and into 
Mystic and Charles Rivers. 

The size of our harbor is not too large for our present ship¬ 
ping, and the shipping using this port, has doubled in tonnage 
within the last seven years. This fact, together with the very 
extensive arrangements for trade upon railroads, from the great 
lakes and from Canada, Vermont and New Hampshire, already 
nearly completed, promises a much greater increase for years to 
come,—and if so, it may be that the increased amount of ship¬ 
ping will require that a greater expanse of deep water should 
be obtained in our harbor, by excavating the flats between Bos¬ 
ton and South Boston. 

It is well understood, that the enlargement of our city proper, 
will be from filling up the flats, that are now uncovered by wa¬ 
ter, between the west part of our city and Brookline and Rox- 
bury. This can be effected without injury to our harbor, and 
the property belongs to a corporation who have all the requisite 
rights for such a purpose, and whose interest can only be bene- 
fittedby so doing. Therefore, whatever other enlargement of 
the upland of our city takes place, this will be effected without 
any doubt; and it will be on a plan commensurate with its 
prospective growth and importance. 

The health of our city is promoted by the open space of flats 
between Boston and South Boston, much more than it would 


V 


68 FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. [Jan. 

be by having that space covered with low land and mud, and 
dust. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

THOMAS LAMB. 



Boston , October 22, 1849. 

Hon. Charles Hudson,— 

Dear Sir, —The substance of the testimony I gave, and the 
opinion I expressed before the commissioners, last autumn, on 
the subject of the flats in Boston harbor, was : 

That the growing commerce of this city required the utmost 
limits of the harbor, as now defined, to accommodate the ship¬ 
ping employed in that commerce, in its present condition, as 
had been frequently demonstrated during the then preceding sum¬ 
mer, after the prevalence of several days of north and east winds, 
bringing in some hundreds of coasting vessels from Maine and 
the British Provinces; which, in the already crowded state of 
the channel, resorted to these flats, either from necessity, conve¬ 
nience, or for security, anchoring or running on the soft mud, 
according to the time of tide, in either case equally safe. 

That from the accounts of some of the oldest pilots, it was 
evident that the draft of water in the narrows or ship chan¬ 
nel, had, within the last thirty years, diminished some six or 
eight feet, and that this diminution was progressive:—showing 
that the cause, whatever it might be, still existed, or had not 
ceased to be operative. The only satisfactory cause, to my own 
mind, was the great contraction of the inner harbor, within the 
before named period, or from a point of time a few years more 
remote, by filling up flats, extending wharves and piers on 
every side, making, in the aggregate, about 1,400 acres of sur¬ 
face, every foot of which was as efficient in producing a current, 
as like superficies of the deepest water in the harbor. From 
these causes the current had become more sluggish, and the ac¬ 
cretion in the channel of the Narrows, from the washing and 
wearing away of the islands on either side, had doubtless in-, 
creased, as the force of the current had diminished. 



1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


69 


Under such circumstances, it would not be wise to allow fur¬ 
ther contraction of the inner harbor, either for private or public 
convenience, particularly as there is, and has, for some years, 
been a disposition to construct, for the merchants’ service, ships 
and steam packets, requiring as great a draft of water as heavy 
ships of war, for the entrance of which our harbor mav, atsom'e 
day not far remote, be regarded as unsafe; and even a well 
founded conjecture to that effect, would be wafted upon the 
wings of the wind, and never permitted rest until it produced 
an effect. 

I am, dear sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Z. J ELLISON. 


I. 

STATEMENT OF H. A. S. DEARBORN, ESQ. 

• Roxbury , November 26, 1849. 

To the Conunissio tiers in relation to the Flats in Boston 

Harbor. 

Gentlemen,— I respectfully present a statement as to the claim 
of the city of Roxbury to a portion of the territory within its 
limits, which was formerly included in the Back Bay, west of 
Boston, and request that it may be placed on file in your office. 

On the I2th day of September, 1831, a committee was ap¬ 
pointed by the town, to establish the bounds of the flats claimed 
by it, and David Sears, Esq., of Boston, within the eastern, or 
empty basin of the Boston Mill Dam Corporation; and an in¬ 
denture was executed on the 15th of November, 1832, by which 
it was stipulated that a road might be constructed by said Sears 
through the flats claimed by Roxbury, which was delineated 
on a map made by S. P. Fuller, on the 20th of October, 1832 ; 
and that said road should be the dividing line between the land 
owned by the town and said Sears. The road was laid out, 
forty feet wide, and two thousand feet south of the Mill Dam. 

The flats owned by the town, north of said road, con¬ 
tained over seventy-two acres ; but the area of the territory 
claimed by the town, extends north and east to the boundary 
lines between Roxbury and Boston ; as by the Act of the 16th 



70 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. 


[Jan. 


of March, 1836, for establishing the boundary lines between 
Roxbury and Boston, the “ territory and jurisdiction ” on either 
side of said lines was confirmed to said town and city, respec¬ 
tively. 

Roxbury considers its claim and title to the territory above 
described, as perfect and conclusive, not only against all per¬ 
sons, but also the Commonwealth, it being part of the domain 
which was acquired when the town was primarily occupied in 
1630, and a municipal government established therein, and the 
right thereto confirmed, not only by the laws of the colonial 
government, as well as by an undisputed possession of more than 
two hundred years, but also by the Act of March the 16th, 1836, 
above named ; for it appears by the records of the town and the 
colony, that the “ ground ” in Roxbury, not granted to individ¬ 
uals, was confirmed to the town as early as 1636 ; and thereafter 
grants were repeatedly made by the town, to individuals, either 
without compensation or for some specified purpose, or on spe¬ 
cial conditions, until 1662, when it was “Voted, that no more 
land be given away, but that it be kept for the town’s use; ”— 
therefore, the fee to the territory within the bounds of Roxbury, 
which has not been alienated, is still in the city; and as the 
tract which is claimed in the empty basin was not granted to 
any person, it must now be deemed as the property of the city. 

So long as the Boston Mill Dam Corporation consider it ex¬ 
pedient to make use of the empty basin, in which the territory 
claimed by Roxbury is situated, for the purpose for which it 
was formed, it is not probable that any attempt will be made by 
the city to occupy, or render available in any manner, the area 
between the flats and the northern and eastern boundary lines 
between it and Boston. But, in the event that the hydraulic 
power of that corporation should be relinquished, and the pro¬ 
prietors interested in the territory within that basin, should then 
determine to fill it up, and convert it into solid land for building 
lots, or any other objects, the city of Roxbury would have the 
right of thus rendering useful the whole of its territory, for it 
having been confirmed to it by the Legislature, any claim which 
the Commonwealth might otherwise have had thereto, has been 
estopped by the Act which has been named. The most signifi¬ 
cant and appropriate term was introduced in that Act, to secure 
to Roxbury, not merely the upland, marsh, and flats, but the 

BO 23 * 


1850.] 


SENATE—No. 3. 


71 


portion covered by water;—for territory includes the entire area 
within the bounds of Roxbury. 

It is the word used in the charter of William and Mary, to 
include the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, and 
Arcadia, -in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, being called 
“ Territories ,” to define their physical geographical areas , and 
“ Colonies ,” as designative of their government or jurisdiction. 

In the deed of cession of Massachusetts, of 1785, to the Uni¬ 
ted States, of all that portion of the State, which by its original 
charter was included between the Niagara River and the Mis¬ 
sissippi, the word “ territory ” was used ; and in the agreement 
with the State of New York, which was executed in 1786, for 
a compromise of the claim of the Commonwealth, to the region 
extending from its present western bounds to the Niagara River, 
Massachusetts released the “ jurisdiction ,” and New York “ con- 
jirmed ” to Massachusetts, the “ territory ,” from Senaca Lake to 
within one mile.of Niagara River. 

The construction, therefore, which Roxbury has given to the 
Act of March, 1836, is warranted by precedents contained in the 
laws and records of the Commonwealth; and it is consequently 
presumed, that it will not interpose any claim adverse to that 
which Roxbury presents for your consideration. 

With sentiments of the highest respect, 

Your most obedient servant, 

H. A. S. DEARBORN, 
Mayor of the City of Roxbury. 


K. 

STATEMENT OF DAVID SEARS, ESQ. 

Flats in the Back Bay Basin. 

1822. By a partition deed, Gravelly Point, and land and 
flats in the receiving basin of the present Water Power Compa- 
ny, were conveyed to David Sears and others,— originally pur¬ 
chased by Uriah Cotting and others, of the old proprietors of 

Roxbury. 




72 


FLATS IN BOSTON HARBOR. [Jan. 1850. 


1824. The respective boundaries between the city of Boston 
and land of David Sears and others, established by indenture. 
Through the centre of the eastern channel,—the first boundary 
of the town of Boston. 

1832. The respective boundaries between the town of Rox- 
bury and David Sears, established by indenture. A town road 
laid out and recorded, and a right given to David Sears to take 
soil, &c., from the Roxbury flats. 

1836. The respective boundaries of the city of Boston and 
the town of Roxbury in the empty basin, or back bay, were con¬ 
firmed and established by an Act of the Legislature, li And the 
territory and jurisdiction on either side of the said lines, as 
hereby established, are accordingly confirmed to said city and 
said town, respectively.” 

Flats North of the Mill Dam. 

1824. A Resolve of the General Court gave the right to the 

Boston and Roxbury Mill Corporation, to use and occupy,—for 

certain purposes,—two hundred feet north of their dam, west 

of low water mark, on the west side of the eastern channel. 

* 

» 

1843. An Act of the General Court gave to the above named 
corporation the right to fill up, and use,—for certain purposes,— 
one hundred feet of the flats north of the Mill Dam, to Sewell’s 
Point, in Brookline,—limited to one hundred yards to the north¬ 
ward and eastward of the eastern-most sluiceway. Thus for¬ 
ever cutting off the Back Bay from the ocean. 

N. B. The above Act, &c., not including the right to erect 
dwelling houses, it is presumed that the Boston and Roxbury 
Mill Corporation intend soon to apply to the General Court for 
an unrestricted grant to fill up and use these flats, and will 
propose, as an equivalent therefor, to discharge their Mill Dam 
of its right of toll. 

By request, 

DAVID SEARS. 

To Hon. John M. Williams , Chairman of the Commissioners 
appointed under a Resolve of the Legislature . 

Beacon Street, November 21, 1849. 


























































































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